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CELEBRATION 

OF  THE 

One  Hundred  and  Foupenth /nniversai|_y 

OF  THE  DECLARATION  OF 

AMERICAJ.^  I¥DEPEi\DEi\CE, 

BY  THE 

Society  of  Tammany 

OR 

COLUMBIAN  ORDER, 

HELD  AT 

TAMMANY  HALL, 

J^RIDAY,     jIuLY     4TH,  1890, 


PUBLISHED   BY  ORDER  OF  THE  TAMMANY  SOCIETY. 


NEW  VORK : 

JOHN  \V.  OLIVER,  STEAM  PRINTER,  No.  203  CANAL  STREET. 
1  8  9  O  . 


SOCIETY  OF  TAMMANY,  or  COLUMBIAN  ORDER. 


ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FOURTEENTH 

ANNUAL  CELEBRATION 


OF  THE   ANNIVERSARY  OF 


HELD  AT 

TAMMANY  HALL,  14th  St.,  Near  Third  Ave., 
Friday,  July  4th,  1690. 


ORDER  OF  EXERCISES. 

NATIONAL  AIRS  By  BAYNE'S  69tii  REGT.  BAND. 

ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME,      ...       By  Grand  Sachem  ABRAM  B.  TAPPEN. 

MUSIC. 

QUARTETTE— "Hail  to  our  Beautiful  Land."  .  .  .  TAMMANY  GLEE  CLUB. 
READING  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEi'ENDENCE,  as  pre.-^cribfd  by  the 

Constitution  and  By-Laws  of  the  Society,    Bv  Brother  GEORGE  B.  McCLELLAN. 
QUARTETTE— "The  Sword  of  Bunker  Hill."         .      .       .      TAMMANY  GLEE  CLUB. 
HEADING  REPLIES  TO  THE  INVITATIONS  OF  THE  SOCIETY 
FROM    DISTINGUISHED    DEMOCRATS    AND  ABSENT 

BROTHERS,  By  SECRETARY  JOHN  B.  McGOLDRICK. 

SOLO  AND  CHORUS— "The  Star  Spangled  Banner," 

Mr.  PHILLIP  F.  SULLIVAN,  AND  TAMMANY  GLEE  CLUB. 

**IiONG  TALKS," 

By  Hon.  WILLIAM  D.  BYNUM,  of  Indiana. 

.  Hon.  CHARLES  F.  CRISP,  of  Georgia. 

'  MUSIC. 
•QUARTETTE— "The  Flag  of  our  Union,  Forever,"      .      .      TAMMANY  GLEE  CLUB. 


SHORT  TALKS, 


BY 

Hon.  B.  T.  BIGGS,  Governor  of  Delaware.  Hon.  JAMES  W.  COVERT,  of  New  York. 

WILLIAM  M.  SPRINGER,  of  Illinois.  "  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA,  of  New  York. 
ASHER  G.  CARUTH,  of  Kentucky.  "  JOHN  H.  MCCARTHY,  of  New  York. 
WILLIAM  C.  P.  BRECKINRIDGE,         "     AMOS  J.  OUMMINGS.  of  New  York. 

of  Kentucky.  "    EDWARD  J.  DUNPHY,  of  New  York, 

WILLIAM  S.  HOLMAN,  of  Indiana.  "  CHARLES  H.  TURNER,  of  New  York. 
WILLIAM  MCADOO.  of  New  Jersey.       "     ASH  BEL  P.  PITCH,  of  New  York. 

THEO.  WILKINSON,  of  Louisiana.  Gen.  DANIEL  E.  SICKLES,  of  New  York. 

BENTON  MCMILLAN,  of  Tennessee.  Hon.  ORESTES  CLEVELAND,  of  N.  J. 
JOHN  M.  ALLEN,  of  Mississippi.  ALLAN  L.  McDERMOTT,  of  N.  J. 


Sachems  and  Officers  of  the  Society. 

ABRAM  B.  TAPPEN.  Grand  Sachem. 
HUGH  J.  GRANT,  RICHARD  CROKER,  WM.  BOURKE  COCKRAN, 

THOMAS  L.  FEITNER.  JOHL  0.  STEVENS,  JOHN  McCJUADE. 

BERNARD  P.  MARTIN,  JOHN  COCHRANE.  JOHN.  J.  GORMAN. 

CHARLES  M.  CLANCY.  CHARLES  WELDE,  HENRY  I).  PURROY, 

CHARLES  E.  SIMMONS,  Sachems. 
ARTHUR  LEARY,  Treasurer.  JOHN  B.  McGOLDRICK,  Secretary. 

JOHN  D.  NEWMAN.  Wiskinkie.  WILLIAM  H.  DOBBS,  Sagamore. 

JOHN  J.  GOR^lxy;,  FatJier  of  the  Council.   MAURICE  F.  HOLAHAN. 

Scribe  of  the  Council. 


COLUMBIA,  THE  GEM  OF  THE  OCEAN. 


Sung  by  Tammany  Glee  Club,  Sachems,  Braves  and  Audience- 


Columbia,  the  gem  of  tLe  ocean, 

The  home  of  the  brave  and  the  free, 
The  shrine  of  each  patriot's  devotion, 

A  world  offers  homage  to  thee, 
Thy  mandates  make  heroes  assemble, 

When  liberty's  form  stands  in  view. 
Thy  banners  make  tyrants  tremble, 

When  borne  by  the  Red,  White  and  Blue. 

Chorus. 

When  borne  by  the  Red,  White  and  Blue — Tammany  Hall; 
When  borne  by  the  Red,  White  and  Blue — Tammany  Halli 

Thy  banners  make  tyrants  tremble, 
When  borne  by  the  Red,  White  and  Blue — Tammany  HalL 

When  war  waged  its  wide  desolation, 

And  threatened  our  land  to  deform. 
The  ark  then  of  freedom's  foundation, 

Columbia  rode  safe  through  the  storm, 
With  her  garland  of  victory  o'er  her. 

When  so  proudly  she  bore  her  bold  crew. 
With  her  flag  proudly  floating  before  her. 

The  boast  of  the  Red,  White  and  Blue. 

Chorus. 

The  boast  of  the  Red,  W^hite  and  Blue — Tammany  Hall;. 
The  boast  of  the  Red,  White  and  Blue — Tammany  Hall; 

With  her  flag  proudly  floating  before  her, 
The  boast  of  the  Red,  White  and  Blue — Tammany  Hall. 

The  wine  cup,  the  wine  cup  bring  hither. 

And  fill  you  it  up  to  the  brim ; 
May  the  wreath  they  have  won  never  wither. 

Nor  the  star  of  their  glory  grow  dim ! 
May  the  service  united  ne'er  sever. 

And  hold  to  their  colors  so  true ! 
The  Army  and  Navy  for  ever! 

Three  cheers  for  the  Red,  White  and  Blue. 

Chorus. 

Three  cheers  for  the  Red,  White  and  Blue — Tammany  Hall; 
Three  cheers  for  the  Red,  White  and  Blue — Tammany  Hall; 

The  Army  and  Navy  for  ever! 
Three  cheers  for  the  Red,  White  and  Blue — Tammany  HalL 


Tammany  Society. 


CELEBRATION 

OF  THE 

ONE    HUNDRED    AND  FOURTEENTH 

Anniversaii^y  of  American  Independence, 

jIuLY    4TH,  1890. 


^HE  Celebration  of  the  One  Hundred  and 
Fourteenth  Anniversary  of  American  Independ- 
ence, on  Friday,  July  4th,  1890,  was  a  red  letter 
day  in  the  history  of  the  Society  of  Tammany 
OR  CoLUMBTAX  Order.  In  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  its  Constitution  and  Laws  of  the 
Society,  the  Sachems,  braves,  and  loyal  democrats 
assembled  to  hear  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
read,  and  to  celebrate  the  natal  day  of  the  Re- 
public. For  more  than  one  hundred  years  have 
^  the  sons  of  Tammany  met  and  performed  this  duty 
imposed  upon  tliem  by  their  fathers,  in  order  to 
keej)  alive  that  love  of  liberty  that  caused  the 


12 


Tammany  Society . 


heroes  of  the  Revolution  to  risk  "their  lives,  their 
fortunes  and  their  sacred  honor  to  establish  a 
Union  of  "free  and  independent  states,*'  nnder  a 
government  where  all  men  would  be  recognized 
as  equal,  and  the  laws  would  be  made  for  the 
people  and  by  the  people. 

These  celebrations  of  Independence  Day.  by 
Tammany,  are  grownng  larger,  more  interesting 
and  more  important.  The  celebration  of  July  4th, 
1890,  w^as  one  of  the  grandest  ever  given  by  the 
Society.  Representatives  of  the  people  of  thirteen 
states,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  came 
from  their  labors  in  the  National  Congress  to  con- 
gratulate Tammany  upon  its  unswerving  democ- 
racy and  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  people. 

The  exercises  w^ere  to  begin  at  ten  o'clock,  but 
long  before  that  hour  thousands  of  enthusiastic 
democrats  tilled  the  street  in  front  of  the  Wig- 
wam, anxiously  waiting  for  the  great  doors  to  be 
thrown  open,  and  when  the  hour  of  assembling 
arrived  every  corner  of  the  great  hall  was  filled. 

The  Wigwam  was  handsomely  decorated  within 
and  without.  Outside  the  National  colors  floated 
from  every  window,  and  from  each  corner  ot  the 


Cdehration,  1890. 


13 


building  to  the  top  of  the  flag-staff  on  the  roof  flut- 
tered the  ensigns  of  the  Navy.  Within  the  hall 
the  decorations  were  very  handsome.  The  boxes 
and  galleries  were  draped  in  purple  and  gold, 
while  around  the  main  gallery  were  hung  thirteen 
bannerets  bearing  the  coats  of  arms  of  the  thirteen 
original  states.  The  boxes  reserved  for  ladies 
were  draped  in  the  National  colors.  Around  the 
stage  was  the  same  draping  of  purple  and  gold ; 
the  entrance  to  the  cave  was  draped  to  represent 
the  door  of  a  wigwam,  and  upon  the  walls  were 
shields  bearing  the  coats  of  arms  of  the  thirteen 
original  States,  New  York  occupying  the  place  of 
honor  in  the  centre.  Upon  the  table  of  the  Grand 
Sachem  was  a  mamiiticent  basket  of  flowers,  while 
on  either  side  of  the  stage  were  two  large  pillows 
of  flowers,  one  bearing  the  date  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Society  '*  1789,'"  and  the  other  the  year 
-1890."' 

Bayne's  Sixty-ninth  Regiment  Band  furnished 
the  music,  and  from  its  place  in  the  gallery  dis- 
ooursed  patriotic  and  popular  airs  which  were 
vigorously  applauded  by  the  waiting  audience. 

Every  inch  of  space  was  occupied,  the  floor  of 
the  large  hall,  the  main  gallery,  and  the  ladies' 


14 


Tammany  Society. 


gallery,  and  the  scene  was  most  brilliant  and  in-^ 
spiring. 

It  was  exactly  ten  o'clock,  when  the  procession 
of  Sachems,  Braves,  and  guests  entered  the  hallr 
led  by  the  veteran  Wiskinkie,  John  D.  Newman, 
bearing  aloft  the  Cap  of  Liberty,  and  Sagamore 
William  H.  Dobbs,  with  the  Tomahawk  and  Pipe 
of  Peace.  The  band  played  a  Grand  March  com- 
posed for  the  occasion,  and  as  the  Braves  and  their 
guests  took  the  places  assigned  them  upon  the 
grand  platform  they  were  greeted  with  applause, 
loud  and  long. 

Among  the  many  distinguished  Democrats  pre- 
sent, were  :  Governor  B.  T.  Biggs  of  Delaware, 
Hon.  William  D  Bynum,  of  Indiana,  Hon.  Charles 
F  Crisp,  of  Georgia.  Hon.  John  M.  Allen,  of  Mis- 
sissippi, Hon.  B.  A.  Emloe,  of  Tennessee,  Hon. 
Theodore  S  Wilkinson,  of  Louisiana.  Hon.  Wil- 
liam M.  Springer,  of  Illinois,  Hon.  S.  S.  Yoder,  of 
Ohio,  Hon."  James  Kerr,  of  Pennsylvania,  Hon. 
Asher  G.  Caruth.  of  Kentucky.  Hon.  C  H.  Man- 
sur,  of  Missouri,  Mayor  Hugh  J.  Grant,  Hon. 
Richard  Croker^  Commissioner  of  Public  Works 
Thomas  F.  Gilroy,  Police  Commissioners  James 
J.  Martin  and  Charles  F  McLean,  Fire  Commis- 
sioners Henry  D.  Purroy,  and  Anthou}^  Eickhoff, 


Celebration,  1800. 


15- 


Sheriff  Daniel  E.  Sickles,  County  Clerk  Edward' 
F.  Reilly,  Recorder  Frederick  Smyth,  Register 
Frank  Fitzgerald,  Mayor  Patrick  Gleason,  of 
Long  Island  City,  Congressmen  James  W.  Covert, 
and  Felix  Campbell.  Surrogate  Rastus  Ransom, 
Deputy  County  Clerk  P.  Joseph  Scully,  Senators 
William  L.  Brown,  George  F.  Roesch,  Jacob  A. 
Cantor,  Eugene  S.  Ives,  Commissioners  of  Ac- 
counts Maurice  F.  Holahan,  and  Prescott  Barker, 
Tax  Commissioner  Thomas  L  Feitner,  Commis- 
sioners of  Charities  Edward  C.  Sheehy,  and  Charles 
E.  Simmons.  Street  Cleaning  Commissioner  Hans 
S.  Beatty,  Dock  Commissioner  J.  Sergeant  Cram, 
Park  Commissioner  A.  W.  Gallup.  Corporation 
Counsel  William  H.  Clark.  Rx- Congressman  W. 
Bourke  Cockran,  City  Chamberlain  Thomas  C. 
T.  Crain,  Coroners  Ferdinand  Levy,  Louis  W. 
Schultze,  Daniel  Hanly.  and  M.  J.  B.  Messemer, 
Police  Justices  Daniel  F.  McMahon.  John  Coch- 
rane, John  J.  Gorman,  Charles  Welde,  Andrew 
J.  White,  and  Daniel  O'Reilly,  Ex- Alderman 
Patrick  Divver.  Excise  Commissioners  Edward  F. 
Fitzpatrick,  Joseph  Koch,  and  Alexander  Meakin, 
Civil  Justices  Peter  Mitchell.  John  McKeon, 
Charles  M.  Clancy,  Alfred  Steckler,  Andrew  J. 
Rogers,  and  William  Moore.  Assessor  Edward 
Cahill,  James  Everard,  Deputy  Commissioner  of 


16 


Tammany  Society, 


Public  Works  Bernard  F.  Martin,  George  Hall, 
Albert  Eltricli,  James  Fitzpatrick,  Charles  Steck- 
ler,  John  J.  Scamiel,  Commissioner  Edgar  L.  Ridg- 
way,  Benjamin  W.  Buchanan  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  Secretary  John  C.  Sheehan  of  the  Aqueduct 
Board,  Ex-Commissioner  James  C.  Spencer,  Joseph 
0.  Davis  of  the  Superior  Court,  Cornelius  A.  Caf- 
fre}^,  Judges  Simon  M.  Erlich,  David  McAdam, 
Leonard  A.  Geigerich,  James  Fitzsimons  of  the 
City  Court,  Edward  F.  Rejmolds,  Clerk  Michael 
T.  Daly,  Deputy-Sheriff  Lawrence  Delmore,  Ex- 
Register  John  ReiJly,  Bernard  Reilly,  Jr.,  Deputy 
Street  Cleaning  Commissioner  William  Dalton, 
Hon.  Edward  P.  Hagan,  Ex-Senator  George  W. 
Plunkitt,  John  E.  Kelly.  Ex-Alderman  Richard  J. 
Sullivan,  James  P.  Keating,  Michael  Brennan, 
Michael  Breen,  Ex- Alderman  Peter  Seery,  Under- 
Sherifif  John  B.  Sexton,  Ex-Judge  John  McQuade, 
Commissioner  Charles  F.  Allen,  President  John 
H.  y.  Arnold  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  John  F. 
Carroll,  Clerk  of  Special  Sessions ;  John  C.  Mun- 
^inger.  Marshal  John  H.  McCarthy,  Ex-Assembly- 
raan  John  B.  Shea,  Jacob  Seabold,  John  H.  J. 
Ronner,  Congressmen  Charles  H.  Turner,  Edward 
J.  Dunphy,  John  Henry  McCarthy,  Amos  J.  Cum- 
mings,  and  Francis  B.  Spinola,  Assemblymen  P. 
J.  Duffy,  Timothy  D.  Sullivan,  John  Monaghan, 


Celebration,  1890. 


17 


Dominick  F.  MuUaiiey,  Phillip  Wissig,  William 
Sulzer,  Frederick  Haffner,  William  Gr.  Byrne, 
Stephen  J.  O'Hare,  John  Connolly,  M.  J.  Stein, 
Christopher  C.  Clarke,  Aldermen  Edward  Duffy, 
Cornelius  Flynn,  Thomas  Lynch,  Isaac  H.  Terrill, 
and  James  Curry,  Police  Justice  Edward  Hogan,. 
Superintendent  Thomas  Brady,  Thomas  W.  Duane, 
Assemblyman  Joseph  Blumenthal,  Aldermen  Wil- 
liam H.  Walker,  Alexander  J.  Dowd,  James  Gilli- 
gan,  David  Barry,  and  William  P.  Rinckhoff, 
Civil  Justice  Joseph  J.  Fallon,  Water  Purveyor 
William  H.  Burke,  Private  Secretary  Leicester 
Holme,  William  J.  Hill,  William  Lamb,  Jr., 
Thomas  C.  O'Sullivan,  John  McCormack,  Peter 
Farrell,  Daniel  M.  Donegan,  Charles  Rastus 
Wilson,  Demos  L.  Holmes,  Norman  Andruss, 
Bryan  Henry,  James  H.  Davis,  Deputy-Sheriff 
Joel  0.  Stevens,  John  Gr.  H.  Meyers,  John  A.  Lin- 
heer,  Edward  Kearney,  James  Flemming,  Louis 
J.  Heintz,  Ex-Commissioner  Smith  E.  Lane,  Dr. 
George  W.  Collins,  John  A.  Boyle,  Frank  Young, 
Henry  C.  Reilly,  James  A.  Forgarty.  John  P. 
Hilly,  Terence  Duffy,  Ex-Coroner  William  H. 
Kennedy,  Dr.  Philip  E.  Donlin,  John  F.  Delury, 
Augustine  Healy,  Peter  Herron,  Benjamin  Hatton, 
John  J.  Farrell^  Louis  Munzinger,  Ex-Judge  Lea 
C.  Dessar,  John  Whalen,  George  A.  Lambrecht, 


18  Tammany  Society. 


Mayor's-Marslial  Daniel  Engelhard,  Bryan  G.  Me- 
Swyny,  David  Leventritt,  Commissioner  Thaddeus 
Moriarty,  Bernard  F.  Malone,  John  P.  Schuch- 
mann,  Judge  Henry  Bischoff,  Jr.,  J.  C.  J.  Lang- 
bein,  Lewis  Lyon,  and  William  E  Stillings. 

Grand  Sachem  Abram  B,  Tappen,  after  the 
Sachems  and  Braves  were  seated,  called  the  as- 
semblage" to  order  and  welcomed  them  as  fol- 
lows : 

Fellow^  Citizens  and  Fellow  Countrymen  : 
We  welcome  you  heartily,  a  welcome  we  extend 
to  you  of  the  most  hearty  and  sincere  character. 
We  are  met  here  in  compliance  with  the  requisi- 
tions of  our  charter  and  the  promptings  of  every 
patriotic  feeling  which  does  honor  to  the  human 
breast,  to  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  that  great 
day  which  in  a  new  world  gave  birth  to  a  new 
nation,  a  nation  which  has  grown  and  prospered 
beyond  all  example  in  the  history  of  mankind, 
and  is  now  among  the  most  important  and  dis- 
tinguished nations  of  the  earth.  To  preserve  and 
perpetuate  all  the  principles  and  traditions  which 
enter  into  the  maintenance  of  our  Republic,  it  is 
fitting  that  we  celebrate  this  day  by  public  de- 
monstrations of  the  most  patriotic  character.  We 


Celeh'tition,  1800. 


19 


must  kee})  alive  and  in  active  reineiubranee,  both 
in  the  present  and  in  all  future  generations,  the 
services  and  the  sacrifices  of  our  forefathers 
whereby  we  became  a  free  people.  More  em- 
phatically is  this  the  case  to-day  when  we  see  the 
ascendancy  of  true  Democratic-Republican  i)rinci- 
ples  threatened  in  the  councils  of  the  nation, 
threatened  with  destruction  by  those  who  have 
sworn  to  defend  the  Constitution  and  to  preserve 
the  Republic.  When  we  see  a  partisan  majorit}^ 
having  a  temporary  ascendancy  in  the  councils  of 
the  nation  breaking  down  all  barriers  created  by 
the  Constitution,  and  by  the  traditions  and  princi- 
ples of  our  form  of  Grovernment.  and  endeavoring 
by  fraudulent  legislation,  under  the  pretence  of 
preventing  fraud,  themselves  to  perpetrate  fraud, 
;and  by  violence  to  perpetuate  their  own  ascend- 
ancy irrespective  of  the  will  of  the  people  of  this 
Republic,  all  times  and  all  occasions  are  fitting 
for  the  most  bitter  denunciation  of  such  a  course. 
You  may  go  back  to  the  days  of  the  early  strug- 
gles of  the  colonies  to  free  themselves  from  the 
yoke  of  British  thraldom,  and  you  will  not  find 
in  all  the  Legislation  of  the  British  Parliament 
anything  to  equal  the  legislation  attempted  at  this 
day  by  those  who  are  in  temporary  ascendancy. 
I  might  say  the  same  of  all  other  parliamentary 


20  Tammany  Society. 


bodies  existing  under  the  forms  of  civil  liberty  in 
any  part  of  the  world.  Now,  gentlemen,  we  are 
favored,  repeating  again  that  earnest  welcome  we 
extend  to  all — not  only,  as  I  say,  in  fulfillment 
of  our  chartered  requisition,  but  because  it  is  our 
great  desire,  our  great  jo}^  on  an  occasion  like 
this,  to  have  you  all  here — I  will  sa}^  to  you  that 
you  will  be  addressed  by  some  eminent  gentle- 
men, citizens  of  other  States,  who  have  accepted 
our  invitation,  and  have  presented  themselves 
here  to  enable  us  fittingly  to  celebrate  this^ 
day. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  address  of  the  Grand 
Sachem,  the  band  played  several  patriotic  airs, 
and  the  Tammany  Glee  Club  rendered,  "Hail  ta 
Our  Beautiful  Land  " 

Bro.  George  B.  McClellan  w^as  then  indroduced, 
and  read,  with  fine  effect,  and  amid  great  applause 
*'The  Declaration  of  Independence." 

The  Glee  Club  sang  "The  Sword  of  Bunker 
Hill,"  and  Grand  Sachem  Abram  B.  Tappen  in- 
troduced for  the  first  "Long  Talk  "  Hon.  William 
D.  Bynum.  of  Lidiana. 


Celebration,  1800. 


21 


Mr.  Bynum  was  received  with  great  applause. 
He  spoke  as  follows  : 

Address  of  Hon.  William  D.  Byxum. 

Grand  Sachem,  Ladies  and  Gextlemex  : — I 
cannot  truly  express  the  gratification  and  pleas- 
ure it  affords  me  to  be  with  you  to-day  and  to 
participate  in  the  celebration  of  our  national 
birthday  in  this  memorable  hall.  Here  has  dwelt 
Tammany,  the  devoted  friend  and  firm  supporter 
of  constitutional  rights  and  personal  liberty  for  a 
period  co-existent  with  the  constitution  itself. 
There  is  a  special  pleasure  to  me,  as  I  believe 
there  would  be  to  every  Hoosier  Democrat  at 
being  apble  to  join  with  you  in  this  commemora- 
tion. Every  Indiana  Democrat  remembers  with 
gratitude  the  true  and  loyal  friendship  that  ex- 
isted between  that  noble-hearted  and  trusted 
leader  of  Tammaiiy,  the  late  Mr.  Kelly,  and  the 
ideal  Democrat  of  his  time,  the  late  Vice-Presi- 
dent, Mr.  Hendricks.  We  can  never  forget  that 
whenever  the  democracy  of  Indiana  raised  the 
banner  of  Hendricks  in  national  contests  that 
-  Tammany  rallied  to  his  support  with  as  loyal  de- 
votion as  his  own  idolitrous  followers.  [Ap- 
plause.]   Although   not  commissioned   by  the 


22 


Tammany  Society. 


democracy  of  Indiana  I  know,  I  but  express  their 
wish  when  I  convey  to  you  words  of  praise  and 
good-will  in  jo\xv  efforts  to  maintain  and  uphold 
the  principles  of  constitutional  government  as 
committed  to  us  by  our  fathers. 

The  occasion  of  the  celebration  of  our  birthday 
as  an  independent  people  affords  an  opportune 
time  to  look  back  over  the  past,  take  a  view  of 
the  course  over  which  we  have  traveled  and  to 
ascertain  whether  we  are  moving  in  the  right 
direction.  It  is  no  blind  adoration  that  impels  us 
in  the  belief  that  no  greater  patriots  ever  lived 
than  those  who  declared  and  achieved  our  in- 
dependence, not  as  a  nation  but  as  a  free  people. 
The  founders  of  our  Government  did  not  believe 
in  a  nation  with  a  big  N.  They  believed  that 
supreme  sovereignty  resided  and  should  remain 
with  the  people.  It  is  a  somewhat  prevalent  be- 
lief amongst  the  masses  that  our  rights  and  privi- 
leges are  derived  from  constitutional  provisions. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  this  is  not  democracy — not 
even  com'pound  democracy.  We  do  not  look  to 
constitutions  as  the  source  of  our  inestimable 
rights  and  the  origin  of  our  great  liberties!  They 
are  but  the  instruments  by  which  pre-existing 
rights  are  secured  and  guarded  against  the  en- 
croachments and  oppression  of  governments.  Our 


Celebration,  1800. 


23 


Constitution  was  so  framed,  should  be  so  ad- 
ministered and  must  be  so  preserved.  No  major- 
ity, however  great  and  powerful  has  the  right  to 
take  away  by  constitutional  provisions  or  other- 
wise the  natural  privileges  of  a  minority,  how- 
ever small  and  feeble.  Every  effort  to  engraft 
upon  the  Constitution  of  a  State  or  of  the  Federal 
Government  a  provision  which  has  for  its  object 
the  restraint  of  a  natural  right,  the  prohibition  of 
a  lawful  pursuit  is  an  unwarranted  encroachment 
upon  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  is  the 
offspring  of  that  spirit  of  intolerance  which  in 
all  ages  of  the  world's  history,  when  unbridled, 
has  led  to  cruelties  too  heartless  to  witness  and 
crimes  too  horrible  to  mention.  The  right  of  a 
majority'to  govern  is  a  right  with  clearly  defined 
and  distinctly  marked  bounderies.  A  majority 
has  the  right  to  govern;  and  is  entitled  to  con- 
fidence and  support  so  long  as  it  respects,  not 
only  respects  but  jealously  preserves  the  rights 
of  the  minority.  [Applause.] 

The  greatest  danger  to  our  institutions  is  not 
in  the  rebellion  of  a  minority,  but  in  the  tyranny 
and  oppressions  of  the  majority.  That  our  Con- 
'stitution  is  as  near  equipoise  in  tlie  distribution 
of  its  powers  between  the  different  departments  of 
the  Government  as  could  well  be  made  has  been 


24  Tammany  Society. 

demonstrated  time  and  again.    The  line  of  de- 
markation  between  the  reserved  sovereignty  of 
the  people  of  the  States  and  the  powers  conferred 
upon  the  Federal  Government  is  as  clearly  in- 
dicated as  it  is  possible,  conceding  to  the  latter 
the  power  of  self-preservation.    Upon  occasions 
of  national  rejoicings  we  are  given  more  to  ex- 
ultation than  to  serious  thought.    We  point  with 
pride  to  the  great  contests  through  which  we  have 
passed,  to  the  great  struggles  from  which  we  have 
triumphantly  emerged  as  sure  guarantees  that  the 
progress  of  our  glory  as  a  free  people  will  never 
be  seriously  obstructed ;  but  we  should  remember 
that  many  a  stately  ship  has  safely  passed  the 
reefs,  triumphantly  rode  the  crested-billows  of 
the  storm  in  mid-ocean  to  be  wrecked  by  a  gale 
upon  the  sands  of  the  beach  within  sight  of  her 
port.    The  preservation  of  the   rights  of  the 
people  depend  more  upon  the   character  and 
patriotism  of  those  who  may  be  entrusted  with 
the  reins  of  government  than  upon  the  limitations 
to  their  powers  or  the  number  and  strength  of 
provisions  in  the  bill  of  rights.    We  have  passed 
that  period  in  our  history  when  we  need  have 
any  fears  of  the  impairment  or  destruction  of  our 
form  of  government  by  foreign  foes  or  from  a 
want  of  the  proper  adjustment  of  the  powers 


Celebration,   1890.  25 

delegated:  but  have  reached  a  period  when  selfish 
interests  seek  to  administer  our  great  preroga- 
tives for  the  benefit  of  a  few  to  the  detriment  of 
many.  It  has  been  attested  by  those  of  other 
republics  that  the  founders  of  ours  contributed  as 
much  to  its  success,  by  their  examples,  as  by  their 
great  abilities  and  labors.  To  set  a  true  example 
is  to  perform  a  noble  deed.  They  loved  freedom, 
and  therefore  labored  to  secure  its  blessings  to 
themselves  and  their  posterity  forever.  They 
experienced  the  difficulties  and  impossibilities  of 
framing  a  Constitution  which  was  free  from  ob- 
jections and  of  conferring  powers  which  could 
not  be  abused,  and  therefore  knew  how  necessary 
it  was  that  the  spirit  as  well  as  the  letter  of  each 
and  eve](iy  provision  of  that  instrument  should  be 
strictly  construed  and  faithfully  observed.  Strict 
to  construe,  they  were  strict  to  observe  I  The 
sentiment  and  patriotism  of  the  age  necessarily 
crystallized  into  principles  essential  to  the  correct 
modes  of  interpretation,  to  the  faithful  observance 
of  the  limits  of  the  powers  granted,  and  in  the 
maintenance  and  preservation  of  these  was  founded 
this  grand  temple  of  liberty  nearly  a  hundred 
.  years  agone.  Democratic  ideas  and  Democratic 
principles,  in  my  judgment,  are  the  only  sure  and 
safe  repositories  of  the  ])riceless  jewels  of  liberty, 
justice  and  law.  [Applause.] 


26  Tammany  Society. 


They  dominated  and  influenced  the  administra- 
tion of  affairs  in  this  Government  for  more  than 
sixty  years,  and  under  their  benign  influence  the 
broad  expanse  of  our  domain  reached  the  golden, 
shores  of  the  Pacific,  and  the  capability  of  the 
people  for  self-government  was  successfully  de- 
monstrated and  it  is  to  be  hoped  firmly  estab- 
lished. I  look  upon  the  time  when  the  teachings 
and  principles  of  the  Democratic  party  were  sup- 
planted in  the  administration  of  affairs  as  a 
dangerous  one  for  the  people.  A  departure  when 
once  taken  diverges  more  and  more  the  longer  it 
is  pursued,  and  the  more  difficult  becomes  the 
return.  Step  by  step  we  have  progressed  in  th(^ 
direction  of  unlimited  power  in  the  hands  of  the 
Federal  Government,  until  to-day  we  are  face  to 
face  with  a  despotic  rule  that  may,  in  the  in- 
toxication of  its  success,  go  to  the  extent  that  it 
can  only  be  throttled  by  patriotic  deeds  of  valor 
and  courage.  For  months  the  people  have  wit- 
nessed, not  I  believe  without  indignation,  the 
presiding  officer  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
assume  unwarranted  powers,  trample  upon  the 
rights  of  representatives,  override  the  most  sacred 
provisions  of  the  Constitution  for  the  purpose  of 
robbing  constituencies  of  their  rightful  repre- 
sentation.   Practices  established  and  precedents. 


Celebration,  1800. 


27 


observed  and  revered  from  the  foundation  of  the 
Grovernment  have  been  ignored  by  the  Speaker 
with  a  rudeness  akin  to  barbarism,  and  even 
his  own  words  and  arguments,  uttered  under  the 
solemnity  of  the  most  sacred  obligation  that  could 
be  administered  to  a  freeman,  that  of  preserving 
and  defending  the  Constitution  of  his  country, 
were,  when  cited  in  condemnation  of  his  conduct, 
scoffed  and  jeered  by  himself  and  partisans  as  if 
they  were  but  the  idle  vaporings  of  a  brainless 
demagogue  upon  the  sandlots  of  San  Francisco. 
What  a  transition  in  so  short  a  period  of  time  I 
What  a  change  from  the  Fiftieth  to  the  Fifty-first 
Congress !  From  gentleness  to  austerity  ;  im- 
partiality to  favoritism,  refinement  to  brutalit3\ 
justice  ^o  injustice,  right  to  wrong — Carlisle  to 
Reed.  [Applause.] 

The  outrageous  acts  of  the  Speaker  were  not 
only  excused  but  commended  by  his  partisans 
under  the  pretext  that  dilatory  proceedings  were 
no  longer  to  be  tolerated.  The  direct  tax  bill,  it 
was  said,  had  been  lost  in  the  last  Congress  by 
obstructionary  proceedings.  The  Blair  Educa- 
tional Bill  had  died  upon  the  calendar,  notwith- 
,  standing,  it  was  claimed,  a  large  majority  of  the 
representatives  of  the  people  favored  its  pas- 
sage.   The  payment  of  the  French  spoliation 


28 


Tammamj  Society, 


claims,  it  was  shouted,  had  been  defeated  by  the 
action  of  a  minority  in  defiance  of  the  will  of  the 
House,  and  for  the  enactment  of  these  measures 
the  Speaker,  in  a  braggadocio  air,  announced  that 
this  Congress  was  organized  for  action.  Summer 
has  come,  the  surplus  has  departed,  and  all  these 
schemes  are  yet  in  embryo.    The  surplus  was 
exhausted  in  such  a  short  space  of  time  that  the}" 
had  to  halt  before  they  got  fairly  started.  No 
one,  however,  was  deceived  by  this  hypocrisy. 
Every  intelligent  person  knew  that  the  design 
and  purpose  of  these  freebooters  was  to  rob  a 
sufficient  number  of  constituencies  of  the  rightful 
representatives  and  place  others  in  their  stead 
who  could  be  utilized  in  the  enactment  of  a 
Federal  election  law,  designed   to  perpetuate 
themselves  in  power,  in  defiance  of  the  action 
and  will  of  the  people.    The  bill  which  has  just 
passed  the  House  provides  that  the  Chief  Super- 
visor now  ill  office  and  such  as  may  hereafter  be 
appointed  in  their  respective  judicial  districts  by 
the  judges  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 
States  shall  perform  the  duties  prescribed  for 
them.    They  are,  upon  the  receipt  of  a  petition 
from  one  hundred  citizens  and  voters  in  any  city, 
containing  more  than  20,000  inhabitants,  or  any 
congressional  district,  or  a  petition  from  fifty 


Celebration,  1890. 


29 


citizens  and  voters  from  any  county  or  parish  in 
any  congressional  district  to  certify  lists  of  per- 
sons to  act  as  supervisors  in  all  rating  precincts 
within  such  territory,  and  the  judge  is  required 
from  such  lists  to  appoint  three  supervisors  in 
each  rating  precinct.  It  is  made  the  duty  of  the 
precinct  supervisors,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Chief  Supervisor,  to  make  in  any  city  or  town, 
within  live  weeks  of  the  election,  a  house  to  house 
canvass  of  the  precinct  or  district,  and  to  as- 
certain by  inquiry  at  any  dwelling  or  other  place 
the  name,  age,  nativity,  term  of  residence  and 
other  qualifications,  and  make  report  in  writing 
to  the  Chief  Supervisor.  To  attend  the  registra- 
tion of  voters,  to  challenge  the  right  to  register 
or  to  remain  on  the  registry  and  to  require  the 
registration  officer  to  mark  any  voter  for  challenge. 
To  attend  the  election  and  witness  the  counting 
of  votes.  To  make,  certif}^  and  forward  returns 
of  the  votes  cast  in  the  precinct,  for  representa- 
tion in  Congress,  to  the  Chief  Supervisor.  To 
make,  in  any  city  or  town  of  20,000  or  more, 
when  required  by  the  Chief  Supervisor,  a  list  of 
all  such  persons  as  may  be  naturalized  in  any 
court  therein  ;  the  date  of  their  naturalization, 
their  residence,  place  of  nativity,  name  and  re- 
sidence of  their  witnesses,  the  same  to  be  tiled 


30 


Tammany  Society. 


in  the  office  of  the  Chief  Supervisor.  These  are 
but  a  small  portion  of  the  duties  to  be  performed 
by  the  precinct  supervisors  and  their  chiefs,  but 
give  a  general  idea  of  the  purpose  and  scope  of 
the  bill.  It  requires  no  extraordinary  powers  of 
mental  vision  to  foresee  the  design  of  this  measure, 
although  it  is  impossible  for  any  true  Democrat 
to  conceive  a  conscience  so  biased  with  partisan-^ 
ship,  a  mind  so  polluted  with  bigotry  and  a  heart 
so  destitute  of  patriotism  as  to  deliberately  pre- 
pare and  openly  advocate  its  provisions.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

What  a  machine  for  oppression,  intimidation 
and  corruption !  The  office  of  Chief  Supervisor 
is  to  be  made  the  centre  of  political  information 
and  political  advantage.  He  will  be  the  source 
of  information  and  power.  He  will  send  out  his 
partisan  supervisors  to  invade  the  homes  of 
humble  citizens  to  find  out  their  politics,  and,  if 
they  be  Democrats,  to  hunt  up  their  history,  to 
see  if  by  some  excuse  they  may  challenge  or  in- 
timidate them  on  election  day.  If  the  elector 
should  chance  to  be  of  foreign  birth  the  record  of 
his  naturalization  and  the  names  and  history  of 
his  witnesses  are  to  be  found,  and  all  this  informa- 
tion is  to  be  reported  to  the  Chief  Supervisor, 
to  be  kept  and  recorded  by  him  in  his  office.  In 


Celebration,  1800. 


31 


short,  this  is  a  bill  to  legalize  the  Republican 
organization  to  be  supported  with  unlimited 
appropriations  out  of  the  Federal  Treasury,  and 
to  clothe  its  members  with  power  to  persecute, 
arrest  and  imprison,  without  cause,  any  Democrat 
who  may  labor  under  the  delusion  that  he  still 
has  a  right  to  participate  in  elections.  No  such  a 
measure  ever  emanated  from  the  brain  of  a  true 
lover  of  his  people  or  a  devoted  friend  of  his 
country.  The  spirit  of  its  origin  never  had  a 
habitation  except  in  a  heart  filled  with  venom. 
Our  free  institutions  have  weathered  many  a 
storm  ;  they  majestically  withstood  the  attacks 
from  the  alien  and  sedition  laws ;  they  triumphed 
over  Knownothingism  ;  they  have  survived  the 
unbridled  passions  and  dreadful  influences  of  a 
terrible  war  between  the  sections  ;  they  have  re- 
ceived many  a  stab,  but  never  in  my  judgment 
from  any  source  has  been  made  such  a  wicked 
and  deadl}^  thrust  at  the  very  heart  of  the  nation 
as  has  been  made  by  those  who  are  seeking  to 
enact  this  law.  [Applause.] 

Be  not  deceived!  'This  measure  is  not  in- 
tended for  the  South  alone,  it  is  intended  for  New 
York  and  Indiana  in  1892,  and  for  your  city  and 
my  city  when  its  monstrous  provisions  can  be  in- 
voked.   It  is  to  enable  that  original  "package'' 


32 


Tammany  Society. 


of  political  rascality,  John  I.  Davenport,  to  ap 
point  an  army  of  spies  to  invade  the  houses  of 
your  citizens  to  rob  them  of  their  naturalization 
papers,  to  terrorize  over  them,  and  drive  them 
from  the  polls  by  the  aid  of  Federal  marshals. 
But  this  is  not  all.  It  is  further  provided  that 
there  shall  be  appointed  a  Board  of  Canvassers 
in  each  district,  composed  of  three  members, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  canvass  and  tabulate 
the  vote  certified  to  them  as  cast  for  representa- 
tive in  Congress,  and  to  forward  a  copy  to  the 
'Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  this 
return  is  to  be  the  evidence  which  shall  control 
the  clerk  in  making  up  the  roll  of  members.  If 
by  any  chance  a  district,  which  has  been  marked 
-as  essential  to  the  success  of  a  Republican  major- 
ity in  the  House,  should  by  the  State  election 
boards  appear  to  have  chosen  a  Democrat,  as  a 
last  and  final  resort  the  Federal  supervisors  are 
empowered  to  count  in  the  Republican,  and  the 
Clerk  of  the  House  is  required,  under  severe 
penalties,  to  place  his  name  upon  the  roll  as  the 
member  elect.  For  fear  they  will  not  be  able  to 
do  the  counting,  after  the  next  House  is  organ- 
ized, they  provide  for  doing  it  beforehand.  Ever 
since  1876  I  have  had  the  fullest  confidence  in  the 
xibility  of  the  Republican  party  to  steal  anything 


Celebration,  1800, 


3a 


it  desired,  but  I  confess  this  is  the  most  previous 
arrangement  they  have  yet  been  able  to  devise. 

Oh,  that  the  patriotic  sense  of  the  i)eople 
might  be  aroused,  on  this  our  birthday  of  free- 
dom, to  a  realization  of  the  danger  that  threatens 
their  liberties ! 

What  are  the  excuses  made  by  those  who  have 
dared  to  commit  such  a  crime  against  free  gov- 
ernment? That  the  people  can  no  longer  be 
entrusted  with  the  supreme  power  to  guard  and 
protect  their  own  liberties. 

Who  are  to  become  the  guardians  of  the  people 
in  the  preservation  of  the  great  trust  Avhich  the 
fathers  committed  to  their  custody  more  than  a 
hundred  and  score  3^ears  ago?  Sirs,  if  there  is 
one  great  overshadowing  crime  for  which  the 
Republican  leaders  and  the  Republican  party  are 
solely  responsible  it  is  for  debauching  the  purity 
of  the  ballot  and  corrupting  elections  until  an 
honest  result  is  utterly  impossible.  [Great  ap- 
plause.] 

Ill  1880  they  levied  assessments  upon  the  sub- 
ordinate officials  of  the  Grovernment,  including 
the  battle-scarred  veterans  and  the  widows  of 
deceased  soldiers,  to  secure  a  corruption  fund  to 
debauch  the  voters  of  Indiana  at  the  October 
election. 


'34  Tammany  Society. 


In  1888  they  "fried  the  fat"  out  of  the  mono- 
polies to  carry  out  an  organized  system  of  corrup- 
tion in  New  York  and  Indiana  by  which  the 
honest  sentiment  of  the  people  was  defeated. 
But  these  practices  require  too  much  labor  and 
are  attended  with  great  risks,  and  are  not  likely 
to  be  fruitful  sources  of  "boodle''  in  the  future, 
and  they  therefore  propose,  by  this  election  bill, 
to  legalize  their  organization  of  corruption,  clothe 
it  with  supreme  and  arbitrary  power  to  carry 
out  their  schemes  of  debauchery  without  fear  or 
molestation. 

They  surround  themselves  with  Federal  power 
and  grant  to  themselves  appropriations  perpetu- 
ally and  without  limit  to  carry  on  their  campaigns 
of  sophistry  and  "  soap,"  boodle  and  "  blocks  of 
five."  Not  content  to  risk  their  cause  here  they 
go  farther  and  provide  that  in  case  they  fail  at 
the  polls  they  shall  make  the  returns  and  certify 
the  results. 

Their  rapacious  ingenuity  and  malevolent  de- 
signs it  seems  would  have  been  satisfied  and 
exhausted  by  these  provisions,  but  such  was  not 
the  case.  In  this  bill  is  embodied,  as  crimes, 
acts  which  may  be  honest  and  praiseworthy  upon 
the  part  of  electors,  and  for  the  commission  of 
these  the  severest  punishments  and  penalties  are 


Celebration,  1890, 


35 


prescribed,  and  then  for  fear  that  they  might  be 
€aught  in  the  meshes  of  the  net  which  they  had  • 
spread  for  others  the}'  amend  the  law  so  as  to 
enable  them  to  pack  juries  with  their  partisans 
to  acquit  Republicans  and  convict  Democrats. 

What  a  commentary  that  this  bill  should  have 
originated  in  tlie  House  of  Representatives.  What 
an  outrage  for  the  people's  representatives,  sel- 
ected to  guard,  with  argus  vigilance,  their  rights 
and  liberties,  to  turn  u})on  them  and  brand  them 
as  too  dishonest  and  corrupt  to  be  trusted  in  the 
supervision  and  control  of  all  that  is  sacred  to 
them  and  to  their  posterity.  The  advocates  of  this 
measure  say  to  the  people:  "  You  are  not  to  be 
trusted  with  management  of  your  own  elections, 
and  therefore  we  propose  to  send  Federal  Super- 
visors and  Federal  Marshals  to  watch  over  you ; 
to  construe  your  laws,  to  canvass  your  votes  and 
make  up  your  returns,  with  power  to  arrest  and 
imprison  you  without  warrant  if  you  dare  question 
their  acts,  however  arbitrary  and  despotic  they 
may  be.''  Shame  upon  a  party  and  upon  the  men 
that  would  thus  stigmatize  the  brave  and  patriotic 
people  of  this  country,  whose  devotions  to  free 
institutions  has  been  sealed  with  their  blood  upon 
a  hundred  battlefields. 

This  bill  strikes  down  the  vital  principle  of  our 


36 


Tammany  Society. 


Government.  A  representative  Republic  must 
languish  and  expire  if  the  source  of  its  life  and 
duration — the  right  of  free  and  untrammeled  elec- 
tions shall  be  poisoned  or  cut  off,  [Applause.] 

Who  are  the  persons  most  persistent  and  most 
potent  in  demanding  the  enactment  of  this  law? 
Who  are  these  men  who  arrogate  to  themselves 
all  the  virtue  and  all  the  honesty  that  is  left 
amongst  the  people,  and  who  seek  to  be  enthroned 
perpetually  as  the  guardians  of  their  welfare?  As 
well  might  the  wolf  ask  to  be  chosen  to  guard  the 
lamb,  the  lion  the  fawn,  or  the  serpent  the  dove, 
as  for  the  Republican  managers  to  ask  to  be  sel- 
ected as  guardians  of  the  purity  of  the  ballot. 
[Great  applause.] 

The  last  man  to  be  trusted  with  an  arbitrary 
power  is  the  man  who  would  ruthlessly  lay  his 
hand  upon  it.  No  patriot  ever  coveted  such  a 
power.  No  lover  of  his  country  and  his  people 
ever  asked  to  be  clothed  with  supreme  authority 
over  them.  Those  who  ask  for  such  a  power  de- 
sire it  for  base  and  corrupt  purposes.  Let  not 
the  people  of  the  North  believe  that  this  measure 
is  to  enforce  the  rights  of  the  colored  people  of 
the  South.  The  colored  people  are  only  to  be 
injured  by  it.  It  is  to  stifle  the  voices  of  the 
people  of  New  York  and  Indiana,  pivotal  States,. 


Celebration,  1800, 


37 


and  thereby  thwart  the  will  of  the  people  of  the 
country  in  the  great  contest  in  1892.  It  is  in- 
tended to  intrench  in  power  the  most  dangerous 
set  of  men  that  ever  influenced  and  dominated 
public  affairs.  Its  enactment  will  be  the  most 
serious  blow  ever  given  to  popular  government 
and  free  institutions  in  this  country, — 

*'  Whosoever  bath  the  gift  of  tongue  let  him  use  it ; 
AYhosoever  can  wield  the  pen  of  the  ready  writer  let  him 

dip  it  in  the  inkhorn; 
Whosoever  hath  a  sword  let  him  girdle  it  on,  for  the  crisis 

demands  our  highest  exertions,  physical  and  moral." 

[Great  applause]. 

After  the  enthusiasm  that  greeted  the  speech 
of  Congressman  Bynum  had  exhausted  itself,  the 
Grand  Sachem  introduced  for  the  second  "Long 
Talk*'  Hon.  Charles  F.  Crisp,  of  Georgia.  The 
welcome  accorded  to  Congressman  Crisp  was  as 
enthusiastic  as  that  given  the  previous  speaker. 
He  spoke  as  follows  : 

Address  of  Hon.  Charles  F.  Crisp. 

My  Countrymen  : — I  am  privately  advised  by 
^my  friend,  Gen.  Spinola — you  are  acquainted 
with  him,  I  suppose — that  somewhere  hereabouts 
is  a  spring,  which  like  time  and  tide  waits  for  no 


38 


Tammany  Society. 


man,  which  bubbles  about  one  o'clock,  and  into 
which,  if  you  would  have  the  full  benefit  of  the 
springs,  you  must  enter  at  the  time  of  the  moving 
of  the  waters.  And  then  he  told  me  privately, 
too,  that  there  are  about  a  dozen  representatives 
of  the  people  from  various  States,  who  are  ex- 
pected to  say  a  word  or  two  to  you  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  putting  this  and  that  together  I  con- 
cluded from  what  he  said  that  although  I  was  put 
down  for  a  long  talk  the  most  satisfactory  thing  I 
could  do  would  be  to  give  you  a  short  talk,  and 
therefore  I  shall  do  so. 

My  friend  from  Indiana  has  discussed  almost 
exhaustively  that  measure  which  has  attracted  so 
much  attention  in  the  country,  which  has  so 
agitated  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  the 
passage  of  which  on  the  day  before  yesterday  has 
so  seriously  endangered  the  liberties  of  the  people. 
He  has  told  you  of  its  provisions.  I  might  j^ay 
to  you  something  of  the  practices,  the  parlia- 
mentary practices  in  the  House  which  have  led 
up  to  and  enabled  the  dominant  party  to  secure 
the  passage  of  that  law.  When  this  Congress 
assembled  there  were  eight  majority  of  Republi- 
cans in  the  House.  How  that  majority  was  ob- 
tained you  know  as  well  as  I  do.  You  know  the 
vast  campaign  fund  contributed  by  those  gentle- 


Celebration,  1890, 


39 


men  who  are  the  special  beneficiaries  of  existing 
laws,  and  by  those  gentlemen  who  desired  the 
maintenance  and  continuance  of  a  system  which 
•enabled  them  to  obtain  an  undue  advantage  of 
the  masses  of  the  people.  You  know  how  by  the 
use  of  that  great  fund  this  majority  was  acquired 
in  the  House  of  Representatives.  That  majority, 
my  friends,  was  not  what  is  called  a  working 
majority.  Under  the  history  and  practices  of 
this  Grovernment  for  a  hundred  years,  the  minor- 
ity when  so  large  as  it  was  in  the  Fifty-first  Con- 
gress had  it  in  their  power  by  the  use  of  con- 
stitutional means  to  demand  discussion — calm, 
reasonable  discussion — to  demand  the  right  of 
amendments,  and  thev  also  had  the  rioht  under 
the  consMtution  to  see  that  a  constitutional  major- 
ity voted  for  before  a  bill  was  passed  by  the 
House  of  Representatives.  You  know  the  history 
of  the  struggle  after  the  House  met.  You  know 
how  precedents  were  overridden.  You  know  how 
the  views  expressed  by  leading  Republicans  of 
the  past  were  disregarded,  and  under  that  rule 
4ind  under  that  system  the  majority  of  the  present 
House  were  enabled  to  do  practically  what  they 
-pleased.  Still,  my  friends,  they  were  without  a 
working  majorit3^  There  were  seventeen  con- 
tests, seventeen  contested  election  cases  brought 


40  Tammany  Society. 


to  this  House.  Every  one  of  the  sitting  members 
was  a  Democrat.  Every  one  of  those  who  were- 
seeking  seats  in  the  House  was  a  Republican. 
For  every  Democrat  that  they  could  turn  out  and 
seat  a  Republican  in  his  place  they  added  two  to 
their  majority.  The  Committee  on  Elections  have 
ruthlessly  turned  out  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives gentlemen  who  were  there  as  the  lawfully 
accredited  representatives  of  their  constituencies. 
They  have  recommended,  and  the  House  has 
adopted  their  report,  the  unseating  of  a  gentle- 
man who  was  sent  to  the  House  by  thirteen 
thousand  majority.  And  instead  of  having  eight, 
as  they  had  when  the  Congress  met,  they  now 
have  twenty  majority  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. When  that  twenty  was  obtained,  then,  my 
friends,  you  see  what  they  have  done,  so  far  as 
the  House  is  concerned,  to  perpetuate  themselves 
in  power.  By  a  majority  of  those  votes  this  in- 
iquitous election  bill  was  passed  on  the  da}^  before 
yesterday.  They  have  made,  by  their  changes  in 
the  returns  from  the  officials  of  the  States,  a 
change  of  twelve  majority  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. So  that  we  can  say,  and  truthfully 
say,  that  this  law,  which  is  intended  to  bind  hand 
and  foot  the  people  of  this  country,  has  been 
passed  by  them  with  the  aid  and  assistance  of 


Celebration,  1890. 


41 


fnen  who  were  elected  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives by  a  Republican  majority  in  the  House 
and  not  by  the  people  they  pretend  to  represent. 
Without  the  aid  of  those  votes  that  law  could  not 
have  passed. 

And  now  what  is  to  happen  ?  Now,  what  of 
the  liberties  of  the  people?  If  this  law  should 
toe,  or  this  act  should  become  a  law,  it  is  the  taking 
•awaj^  from  tlie  people  the  right  to  manage  and 
■control  their  own  affairs.  If  this  (xovernment 
stands  for  any  one  thing  more  than  another  it  is 
the  right  of  local  self-government,  the  right  of 
home  rule.  If  we  believe  in  this  country  in  any 
■one  thing  as  to  offices  and  office-holders,  it  is  that 
{there  should  be  on  their  part  a  responsibility  to 
the  peojjle,  who  are  the  real  rulers  of  the  nation. 
'This  bill  violates  both  of  those  ideas.  There  are 
nine  Circuit  Courts  in  the  United  States.  There 
iire  two  Democratic  judges.  Practically  only  one 
Democratic  judge  could  act  under  this  bill.  The 
Chief  Supervisor  of  election  designates  the  judge 
who  shall  act,  and  that  judge  appoints  a  returning 
board  for  a  sovereign  Stale.  The  Circuit  embraces 
several  States,  and  the  judge  of  the  court  appoints 
a  board  of  three  men,  who  are  to  certif}^  who  were 
elected  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
There  is  no  responsibility  upon  any  of  these 


42 


Tammany  Society. 


officers  so  that  the  people  can  reach  them.  If  your 
election  officers  are  appointed  by  your  State 
officers  or  elected  by  you  their  acts  can  be  re-^ 
viewed  at  the  polls,  but  no  matter  how  fraudulent 
may  be  the  practices  of  the  returning  board  or  of 
the  Federal  Court  there  is  no  way  under  our  Con- 
stitution and  under  this  bill  by  which  they  can  be 
reached.    If  the  Court  should  do  wrong  the  only 
method  of  reaching  the  Court  is  by  impeachment.. 
The  only  way  to  impeach  a  judge  is  upon  articles 
moved  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  the 
House  of  Representatives  which  might  be  ex- 
pected to  move  those  articles,  if  it  were  neces- 
sary, hold  their  seats  by  virtue  of  certificates 
given  to  them  by  a  returning  board  which  is 
absolutely  at  the  control  of  the  judge.    He  ap- 
points the  board  and  removes  them  at  his  pleas- 
ure.   How  much  responsibility  is  there  upon  his 
part?    The  returning  board  is  only  responsible 
to  him.    Now,  we  all  know  in  this  country  what 
a  returning  board  is.    It  has  not  been  so  long 
since  you  and  I  were  defrauded  out  of  the  Presi- 
dent we  had  elected  by  the  action  of  returning 
boards.    You  recollect  in  1876  the  action  of  the 
returning  board  in  Louisiana,  in  Florida,  and  in 
South  Carolina.    Do  you  recollect  that  visiting 
statesmen  went  down  into  that  country,  and  with 


Celebration,  1890. 


43 


their  aid  and  influence  these  returning  boards 
certified  to  lies,  and  on  their  certificates  the 
President  elected  by  the  people  was  defrauded 
out  of  his  seat.  Those  returning  boards  were  re- 
warded. These  visiting  statesmen  and  their  party 
friends  had  control  of  the  patronage  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  if  you  will  take  the  trouble  to  go 
back  to  the  books  and  records  of  those  days  and 
look  into  them,  you  will  find  ihat  every  one  of 
these  men,  these  returning  boards  and  their  officers 
and  subordinates,  every  one  of  them,  was  given  a 
lucrative  position  under  the  Federal  G-overnment. 
With  the  power  of  the  purse  and  with  the  power 
of  the  patronage  of  the  G-overnment,  I  ask  you 
what  chance  have  the  people  against  a  party  of 
this  past  history  of  the  Republican  party.  Our 
only  safety,  my  friends,  is  holding  all  public 
officials  to  strict  accountability  to  the  people.  I 
do  not  care  how  high  and  exalted  may  be  the 
character  of  the  individual  you  elect  to  any  office, 
I  say  to  3^ou  that  history  has  demonstrated  that 
the  only  })erfectly  safe  and  satisfactory  security 
against  corruption  and  maladministration  is  to 
hold  your  public  servants  to  a  strict  accountability 
to  you  for  the  manner  in  which  they  discharge 
the  duties  of  their  office.  Under  this  bill  you 
cannot  do  this.    The  Republican  party  are  only 


44 


Tammany  Society. 


temporarily  in  power  in  the  House  if  we  can  have 
an  honest  election  in  future,  but  they  are  desperate 
people.  The  faction  that  now  leads  and  controls 
them  is  the  most  radical  of  the  radical.  That 
representative  who  seems  most  to  dominate  and 
control  them  has  told  you  that  the  one  thing- 
needful  to  the  success,  the  continued  success  of 
the  R(3publican  party,  is  the  passage  of  a  law 
which  enables  them  to  do  their  own  registering, 
their  own  counting,  and  their  own  certifying. 
That  means  that  that  registration,  and  counting, 
and  certifying  will  maintain  in  all  the  departments 
of  the  Government,  in  despite  of  the  wishes  of  the 
people,  representatives  of  the  party  who  are  now 
in  possession  of  the  departments  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Do  you  want  any  better  demonstration  of 
that  than  the  House  of  Representatives?  They 
ought  to  be  fair  representatives  of  their  party. 
They  ought  to  be  as  good  as  returning  boards  that 
you  will  get  under  the  law,  and  I  sa}^  to  you — 
and  I  say  it  with  some  knowledge  of  the  question, 
because  I  have  investigated  ever}"  one  of  the  cases 
that  they  have  contested — I  say  to  you  that  they 
have  turned  out  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
members  who  were  legally  elected,  and  seated 
men  who  had  no  more  shadow  of  a  right  to  a  seat 
than  you  have  now  to  the  seat  that  I  represent  in 


Celebration,  1890, 


45 


Congress.  If  they  are  thus  dishonest,  if  they  are 
thus  blind,  accepting  them  as  a  fair  and  correct 
type  of  the  average  Republican,  what  can  you 
expect  of  the  returning  board  that  may  be  ap- 
pointed under  this  law?  I  am  not  an  alarmist. 
We  have  seen  many  troubles  in  this  country. 
The  good  sense  and  patriotism,  the  honesty  and 
the  integrity  of  the  people  have  blocked  them  all. 
Now  we  are  menaced  with  another  and  a  greater 
peril.  The  dominant  party  by  assailing  the  section 
where  \  live,  the  section  that  I  love,  the  section 
which  you  love,  the  section  so  magnificently  de- 
fended by  the  great  Governor  of  New  York  two 
days  ago  in  Indiana,  by  assailing  that  section 
have  sought  to  excite  prejudices  up  here  that  we 
hope  and  believe  that  twenty-five  years  since  the 
war  has  buried  and  hidden  out  of  sight.  By  ex- 
citing those  prejudices  they  seek  to  justify  the 
passage  of  this  law,  saying  to  you  doubtless  that 
it  is  necessary  for  peace  in  the  South,  but  having 
in  mind,  as  suggested  by  my  friend  from  Indiana, 
the  fact  that  it  may  be  used  very  advantageously 
in  New  York  bv  them. 

All  people  know  who  deal  in  trade  with  the 
South  that  these  reflections  upon  her  s^'stem, 
upon  her  peace  and  order  are  false  and  untrue. 
The  millions  of  capital  that  have  gone  down  there 


46 


Tammany  Society. 


since  the  war,  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  our 
Northern  fellow-citizens  who  live  there  now,  the 
tax  returns  of  the  cities  and  counties  and  States,, 
the  amount  of  money  accumulated  and  property 
accumulated  by  freedmen,  the  general  advance 
and  prosperity  of  all  that  section  unite  in  de- 
nouncing as  false  a  statement  that  down  there 
there  is .  oppression  or  injustice  to  anybody.  If 
the  people  of  this  country  cannot  be  led  off  on 
that  false  issue  those  now  in  power  feel  that  their 
tenure  is  short.  They  feel  that  the  legislation  of 
this  session,  even  as  far  as  they  have  gone,  is 
oppressive  to  the  masses  of  the  people.  That 
which  is  to  come,  that  which  they  are  pledged  to, 
or  were  pledged  to  in  the  last  campaign,  but  which 
they  are  holding  back  until  the  next  election,  is 
still  more  oppressive.  They  realize  that  if  the 
people  of  this  country  are  able  to  go  to  the  polls 
and  freely  cast  their  ballots,  and  have  them 
honestly  counted,  and  have  the  majorities  so  set 
up  honestly  asserted  in  the  departments  of  the 
Government,  they  know  and  feel  that  their  lease 
of  power  is  gone.  Knowing  that,  feeling  that^ 
they  are  willing  to  do  anything  to  retain  power. 
They  do  this  under  the  plea  of  peace.  They 
want  peace.  Under  that  precious  plea,  my  friends, 
in  all  ages  outrages  have  been  committed  upon 


Celebration,  1890. 


4T 


the  people.  When  the  Government  of  Poland 
was  overturned  and  a  usurper  was  on  the  throne, 
it  was  announced  "Peace  reigned  in  Warsaw."' 
When  the  French  republic  was  succeeded  by  the 
empire  and  Napoleon  the  Third  ascended  the 
throne,  it  was  given  out  to  the  world  "The 
Empire  is  peace."  When  these  people,  this 
Republican  party,  shall  have  stifled  the  voice  of 
the  people  at  the  polls,  when  they  shall  have  a 
set  of  returning  boards  and  supervision  by  which 
you  are  intimidated  from  the  honest  expression 
of  your  vote,  where  you  do  not  have  the  benefit 
of  its  honest  return,  then  they,  too,  will  say  ta 
the  people  of  the  world  that  in  the  great  Republic 
there  is  peace.  T  say  for  myself,  and  I  shall  con- 
clude with  this,  and  in  raying  it  I  know  I  but 
reflect  vour  sentiment,  that  I  should  choose  rather 
some  of  the  strife  and  turmoil  of  liberty  to  this 
peace  and  quiet  of  a  military  despotism. 

Several  popular  airs  were  rendered  by  the  band, 
and  the  Griee  Club  sang:  "The  Flag  of  our  Union 
Forever."  Secretary  John  B.  McGoldrick,  read 
the  replies  to  the  invitations  of  the  Society  from- 
distiaguished  Democrats,  and  absent  Brothers. 
(The  letters  will  be  found  printed  in  full  in  the- 
back  part  of  this  book.) 


48 


Tammany  Society. 


The  '  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  was  then  sung 
"bj  Mr.  Phillip  F.  Sullivan,  assisted  by  the  Tam- 
many Glee  Club.  Tlie  Grand  Sachem  then  intro- 
duced Governor  B.  T.  Biggs,  of  Delaware,  as  the 
first  of  the  "Short  Talkers.''  who  had  promised  to 
obey  the  five  minute  rule. 

Governor  Biggs  was  greeted  with  a  round  of 
applause  when  he  arose  to  speak.  After  saying 
that  Tammany  Hall  was  rooted  and  grounded  in 
the  hearts  of  the  American  people,  he  referred  to 
the  Federal  Election  bill  as  the  most  important 
political  measure  of  the  day. 

''The  time  is  coming,"  he  said,  "when  beyond 
a  doubt  that  law  will  return  to  that  bourne  from 
which  no  traveller  returns,  unwept,  unhonored, 
and  unsung.  Let  the  negroes  in  the  South  have 
their  rights.  No  one  denies  them  their  rights. 
They  have  as  many  to-day  as  the  white  man  in 
the  Southern  States,  but  if  I  were  a  Southern  man 
I  would  never  allow^  the  negro,  as  long  as  life 
lasted,  to  have  his  own  rights  and  my  own  too. 
Coming  here  to-day  I  saw  that  the  President  had 
signed  the  bill  admitting  Idaho  as  a  State.  I  know 
that  territory  has  not  now  a  population  of  fifty 
.thousand." 


Celebration,  1890. 


49 


Congressmaii  William  M.  Springer,  oI  Illinois, 
spoke  as  follow^ : 

Fellow  Citizens  of  the  Tammany  Society  : — I 
am  profoundly  grateful  to  you  for  the  cordial 
greeting  you  have  extended  to  me  on  this  occa- 
sion. I  would  that  time  permitted  that  I  should 
address  you  on  this  occasion  as  I  feel  in  my  heart 
that  I  would  like  to  ;  but  as  I  am  getting  so  accus-  • 
tomed  under  the  present  rules  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  to  the  five  minute  rule,  I  cannot 
possibly  go  beyond  it.  That  is  all  a  Democrat  is 
allowed  to  speak  now  in  behalf  of  the  people  and 
representation  which  he  has — has  to  fight  for  that. 
I,  however,  in  the  brief  time  allowed  me  desire  to 
call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  continued 
ascenclancy  of  the  Republican  party  in  this  country 
is  a  menace  to  popular  government  and  to  home 
rule.  In  1876  the  leaders  of  that  party  stole  the 
presidency  of  the  United  States,  and  legalized 
their  theft  by  a  partisan  Electoral  Commission. 
In  1880  they  corrupted  the  voters  of  Indiana  and 
New  York  with  money,  wrung  from  the  office- 
holders of  the  country.  In  1888  they  purchased 
the  election  of  Benjamin  Harrison  with  money 
wrung  from  the  manufacturers  of  the  country.  In 
the  present  House  of  Representatives  they  have 
violated  every  principle  of  home  rule  by  unseat- 


-50 


Tammany  Society, 


ing  Democrats  who  were  elected  by  thirteen  thous- 
and majority.  They  have  gone  further,  and  have 
passed  through  the  House  of  Representatives  two 
bills,  one  of  which,  the  McKinley  bill,  is  intended 
to  use  and  usurp  the  taxing  power  of  the  Govern- 
ment for  the  purpose  of  compelling  the  people  to 
contribute  of  their  hard  earnings  to  the  support 
of  the  monopolists  and  capitalists  of  the  country, 
thus  making  the  poor  poorer,  and  the  rich  richer. 
A  bill  which  is  intended  among  other  things  to 
•destroy  the  commerce  of  the  whole  city  of  New 
York,  and  to  close  the  ports  of  our  country  from 
the  commerce  of  the  world. 

They  have  gone  further  than  that,  distrusting — 
as  they  well  may  do — the  people  of  this  country 
at  the  next  election,  and  have  passed  an  electoral 
law  through  the  House  of  Representatives,  which 
lias  for  its  avowed  object  the  wresting  of  elections 
from  the  people  and  conferring  them  upon  a  des- 
potism organized  in  Washington  and  intended  to 
destroy  the  power  of  the  people  to  govern  them- 
selves in  this  country.  But  I  warn  the  leaders  of 
■this  party  that  they  may  carry  this  business  too 
far.  I  warn  them  that  the  people  of  this  country 
are  the  descendants  of  Revolutionary  sires  who 
proclaimed  the  right  of  the  people  to  govern  them- 
selves even  against  the  foreign  despot,  George  the 


Celebration,  ISOO. 


51 


Third.  Let  them  profit  by  the  examples  of  the 
past.  If  they  carry  on  and  carry  out  their  nefari- 
ous purposes  tlie  time  may  come,  and  it  may  even 
now  be  dawning  upon  us,  when  the  people  of  this 
country  will  assemble  at  their  places  of  meeting 
and  again  proclaim  the  great  principles  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  that  all  men  are 
created  equal,  and  that  they  are  endowed  by  their 
Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights.  When- 
ever it  shall  be  demonstrated  that  the  right  of  the 
people  to  turn  this  party  out  of  power  at  the 
ballot  box  is  ruthlessly  taken  from  us,  let  them 
know  now  that  that  power  will  be  wrested  from 
them  if  we  have  to  go  to  the  beginning  as  our 
forefathers  did.  They  must  remember  that  what- 
ever pay  betide  in  this  country,  in  the  language 
of  that  great  man,  once  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  who  formerly  represented  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  the  district  which  I 
now  have  the  honor  to  represent,  "  that  the  peo- 
ple of  this  country  are  determined  that  a  govern- 
ment by  the  people,  for  the  people,  shall  not 
perish  in  this  country." 

I  feel  assured,  my  fellow  citizen,  that  popular 
government  and  home  rule  will  not  perish  among 
us,  for  when  our  rights  are  so  far  persecuted  and 
wrested  from  us  that  we  cannot  successfully  use 


52 


Tammany  Society. 


and  have  the  right  to  use  our  ballots,  we  will  seek 
other  means  of  asserting  them,  and  that  assertion 
will  not  be  in  vain.  When  that  declaration,  when 
that  new  declaration  is  made,  if  it  ever  shall  be 
made  in  this  country,  you  will  find  a  million^  yes, 
ten  million  patriots,  in  this  country  who  have  a 
right  to  vote,  and  who  will  never  sacrifice  it,  re- 
newing again  their  allegiance  to  popular  govern- 
ment and  home  rule,  and  who  will  in  every  voting 
23lace  in  the  land  pledge  anew  in  the  sight  of 
Divine  Providence,  and  appealing  to  Him  for 
their  guidance,  and  pledge  their  lives,  their  for- 
tunes, and  their  sacred  honor  to  retain  this  right- 

Congressman  Caruth,  of  Kentucky,  spoke  of 
the  Federal  Election  bill,  and  declared  that  the 
Republican  party,  with  all  its  infamous  measures, 
could  not  possibly  keep  a  Democratic  majority 
out  of  the  next  House  of  Representatives. 

Mr.  Caruth's  speech  included  a  paraphrase  of 
the  epitaph  on  his  five  wives,  written  by  a  man 
who  moved  their  remains  from  one  graveyard  to 
another,  and  unfortunately  mixed  them  up  : 

Stranger,  pause  and  drop  a  tear, 
Susan  Sparks  is  buried  here, 
Mingled  in  some  mysterious  manner 
With  Sarah,  Marj,  Jane,  and  Banner. 


Celebration,  1890, 


53 


Mr.  Caruth  suggested  as  an  epitaph  for  those 
whom  the  roused  people  will  bury  and  mix  up : 

Stranger,  pause,  but  drop  no  tear, 

For  Tommy  Keed  lies  buried  here  ; 

Mingled  in  some  mysterious  way 

With  parts  of  Wauamaker,  Piatt,  and  Quay. 

Congressman  Theodore  Wilkinson,  of  Louisiana, 
spoke  of  the  Statute  of  Liberty  as  the  symbol  of 
American  Independence. 

Woe  to  him,"  he  vehemently  declared,  "be  he 
presiding  officer  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
or  any  other  tyrant,  if  he  intercepts  its  rays  or 
dims  its  splendor.'' 

Congi^ssman  Benton  McMillan,  of  Tennessee, 
spoke  in  the  same  strain  as  previous  speakers,  in 
referring  to  the  Federal  Election  bill : 

"The  assassins  of  liberty,'*  he  said,  "have 
stepped  into  the  very  citadel  of  American  institu- 
tions, but  there  are  yet  brave  hearts  and  strong 
hands  to  defy  their  despotism.  The  men  who  con- 
tributed the  money  with  which  to  purchase  the 
last  election  have  been  rewarded  with  high  places. 
^  Wanamaker,  who  secured  a  contribution  of  Four 
Hundred  Thousand  Dollars  to  the  Republican 
cause,  received  in  payment  a  place  in  the  Cabinet. 


Tammany  Society. 


During  the  last  National  canvass,  to  my  certain 
knowledge,  he  was  teaching  a  Sunday  School  in 
Philadelphia,  buying  votes  in  Indiana,  and  ex- 
hibiting '  Christ  before  Pilate '  throughout  the 
country. 

"The  Democratic  party/'  Mr.  McMillan,  con- 
tinued, "  sprang  from  the  Revolution,  and  wher- 
ever, liberty's  battle  is  to  be  fought,  wherever  the 
cause  of  justice  is  to  be  championed,  there  will 
Democratic  soldiers  be  found,  fighting  valiantly." 

Congressman  John  M.  Allen,  of  Mississippi,  was 
the  next  speaker,  he  said  : 

"I  am  glad  to  be  with  Tammany  to-day.  I 
come  here  smarting  under  the  outrages  perpe- 
trated upon  me  and  my  party  at  Washington.  I 
am  glad  to  be  with  you  here  to  rekindle  the  fires 
of  American  liberty.  If  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party  are  to  prevail,  we  are  in  sore  need 
of  a  new  declaration  of  independence. 

"The  pretext  for  the  outrages  about  to  be 
committed  by  the  Republican  part}^  is  the  alleged 
outrages  in  the  South.  I  will  not  deny  that  there 
have  been  cases  in  the  Southern  States,  as  in  all 
States  of  the  Union,  for  that  matter,  where 
elections  have  not  gone  strictly  to  the  line,  but  I 
do  say  that  the  very  worst  ballot-box  stufifer  who 


Celebration,  1890. 


55 


ever  operated  in  the  South  would  pale  his  in- 
•effectual  fires  before  the  rascality  and  scoundrel- 
ism  I  have  myself  seen  in  the  unseating  of  mem- 
bers of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

"If  the  sentiment  of  your  song,  'let  tyrants 
tremble/  prevails,  the  Republican  party  is  doomed 
to  destruction.  I  can  assert  with  all  positiveness 
-of  conviction  that  what  that  party  is  now  attempt- 
ing to  do  is  more  destructive  to  liberty  than  was 
the  secession  of  the  Southern  States." 

Congressman  Kerr,  of  Pennsylvania,  spoke  of 
the  thirteen  original  colonies,  the  thirteen  Sachems 
of  Tammany  Hall  and  the  thirteen  Congressmen 
that  were  the  guests  of  Tammany.  The  visiting 
Congressmen,  he  said,  were  all  the  representatives 
of  Democratic  States  except  Mr.  Springer,  of 
Illinois,  and  himself.  But  Illinois,  he  declared, 
was  wavering  in  the  balance,  and  the  Pennsylvania 
forces  of  Democracy  had  been  martialed  to  do 
battle  to  Quayism  and  Reedism,  with  good  chances 
for  success. 

Congressman  Emloe,  of  Tennessee,  made  another 
reference  to  a  possible  new  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence. If  the  time  came  when  another  such 
declaration  was  needed,  he  felt  sure  that  Tammany 
would  be  found  at  the  front. 


56 


Tammany  Society. 


Congressman  Yoder,  of  Ohio,  began  his  speech 
by  declaring  that  Ohio  would  take  a  front  seat 
in  the  next  Democratic  National  Convention. 
Tammany  Hall,  he  said,  had  given  New  York  the 
best  local  government  of  any  city  in  the  world. 
He  wanted  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  the 
people  of  the  country  the  necessity  of  assembling 
in  mass  meetings  to  protest  against  the  Federal 
Election  bill. 

"The  Senate  is  waiting  to  hear  from  you,''  he 
declared.  "Let  that  body  receive  a  significant 
expression  of  opinion  from  every  county  seat  in 
the  country  regarding  this  odious  measure." 

Congressman  Mansur,  of  Missouri,  was  the  last 
speaker.  "In  the  West,"  he  said,  "the  question 
of  tariff  reform  was  a  winning  issue,  and  the 
question  of  Federal  influence  levelled  at  a  free 
people  would  win  in  the  East  and  South.  The 
Federal  Election  bill  was  the  greatest  insult  ever 
cast  into  the  teeth  of  a  free  people.  It  was  the 
last  effort  of  a  political  party  that  was  dying  in 
the  ditch." 

It  was  long  after  two  o'clock  when  the  last 
"Short  Talk"  was  over.  The  large  audience 
rose  and  gave  three  cheers  for  the  visiting  Con-^ 
gressmen.   After  the  Glee  Club,  Sachems,  Braves- 


Celebration,  1890, 


57 


tind  audience  had  joined  the  grand  chorus  of  the 
"Red,  White  and  Blue,''  the  march  was  taken 
«p,  and  the  guests  led  in  triumph  to  the  cave, 
where  large  tables  were  spread  with  refreshments, 
:and  the  feast  of  reason  and  flow  of  soul  was  kept 
up  until  late  in  the  evening,  when  the  visitors 
were  taken  in  charge  of  by  the  committee,  and 
the  one  hundred  and  fourteenth  celebration  of 
Independence  Day  by  the  Tammany  Society  was 
over. 


Celebration,  1890. 


59 


EE  PLIES  TO  INVITATIONS. 


Hon.  Abram  B.  Tappen,  Grand  Sacliem; 

Maeion,  Massachusetts,  June  30,  1890. 

Dear  Sir  : — My  absence  from  the  City  of  New  York, 
and  plains  which  I  have  ah-eady  made,  prevent  my  ac- 
ceptance of  the  courteous  invitation  which  I  have  re- 
ceived, to  attend  the  Celebration  by  the  Tammany  So- 
ciety, of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Anniversary 
of  American  Independence. 

The  Celebration  contemplated  by  your  ancient  and 
time-honored  organization,  will,  it  seems  to  me,  fall 
short  in  the  impressions  done  to  the  occasion,  if  it  does 
not  persistently  present  and  emphasize  the  idea  that  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  the  protest  of  honest 
and  sturdy  men  against  the  wrongs  and  oppressions  of 
misgovernment.  The  reasons  and  justification  for  their 
,  revolt  are  exhibited  in  their  recital  of  a  long  list  of 
grievous  instances  of  mal-administration.  They  com- 
plained that  their  interests  had  been  so  neglected,  and 
their  rights  as  lawful  subjects  so  violated  under  British 
rule,  that  the}'  were  absolved  from  further  fealty. 


60 


Tammany  Society. 


Our  Fathers  in  establishing  a  new  government  upon 
the  will  of  the  People  and  consecrated  to  their  care  and 
just  protection,  could  not  prescribe  limitations  which 
would  deny  to  political  parties  its  conduct  and  admin- 
istration. The  opportunities  and  the  temptations  thus 
necessarily  presented  to  partisanship,  have  brought  us 
to  a  time  when  party  control  is  far  too  arrogard  and 
hitter,  and  when,  in  public  place,  the  true  interests  of 
the  country  are  too  lightly  considered. 

In  this  predicament,  those  who  love  their  country 
may  well  remember  with  comfort  and  satisfaction  on 
Independence  Day,  that  the  disposition  of  the  American 
people  to  revolt  against  mal-administration  still  remains 
to  them,  and  is  the  badge  of  their  freedom  and  inde- 
pendence, as  well  as  their  security  for  continued  pros- 
perity and  happiness. 

They  will  not  revolt  against  their  plan  of  government 
- — for  its  protection  and  preservation  supply  every  in- 
spiration of  true  Americanisn^  But  because  they  are 
free  and  independent  American  citizens,  they  will,  as 
long  as  their  love  and  veneration  for  their  government 
shall  last,  revolt  against  the  domination  of  any  politi- 
cal party,  which  entrusted  with  power,  sordidly  seeks 
only  its  continuance,  and  which  faithlessly  violating  its 
plain  and  simple  duty  to  the  people,  insults  them  with 
professions  of  disinterested  solicitude,  while  it  eats  out 
their  substance. 

And  yet,  with  all  this,  we  should  not  in  blind  security 
deny  the  existence  of  danger.  The  masses  of  our  coun- 
trymen are  brave  and  therefore  generous ;  they  are 
strong  and  therefore  confident,  and  they  are  honest  and 
therefore  unsuspecting.  Our  peril  lies  in  the  ease  with 
which  they  may  be  deluded  and  cajoled  by  those  who 
would  traffic  with  their  interests. 

No  occasion  is  more  opportune  than  the  Celebration 
of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of 


Celebration,  1S90 


61 


American  Independence,  to  warn  the  American  people 
of  the  present  necessity  on  their  part  of  a  vi<i;ilant 
watchfulness  of  their  rights  and  a  jealous  exaction  of 
honest  and  unselfish  performance  of  public  duty. 
Yours  very  truly, 

GROVER  CLEVELAND. 


State  of  New  York, 
Executive  Chamber, 

Albany,  July  3,  1890. 

Dear  Sir  :—  Upon  my  return  from  the  West,  where  I 
have  been  to  pay  my  respects  to  the  memory  of  that 
true  Democrat  whom  we  all  honor,  Thomas  A.  Hen- 
dricks, I  find  your  invitation  to  attend  the  celebration  of 
the  Tammany  Society  in  commemoration  of  the  One 
Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of  American  In- 
dependence, and  I  am  extremely  sorry  that  previous  to 
my  departure  I  had  made  another  engagement  for  the 
Eourth  of  July. 

The  Tammany  Society  is  entitled  to  and  will  receive 
the  praise  of  all  true  Americans  in  its  untiring  efforts, 
made  manifest  on  every  Fourth  of  July,  to  keep  alive 
the  spirit  and  memory  of  that  day  which  marked  the 
enunciation  of  our  Declaration  of  Independence.  That 
day  and  the  day  which  saw  the  establishment  of  the 
American  Constitution  are  the  most  noteworthy  of  our 
history.  The  one  marked  the  abstract  declaration  of 
American  principles  :  the  other,  the  practical  applica- 
tion of  those  principles  in  a  written  form  of  government. 
The  two  productions  which  those  days  brought  forth 
ought  to  be  the  most  revered  documents  in  history. 

This  Anniversary  day  will  be  dear  to  friends  of 
human  liberty  in  every  land,  but  the  observation  of  it 


62 


Tammamy  Society. 


ought  never  to  be  ignored  by  genuine  Americans.  Itf^ 
celebration  this  year  ought  to  be  more  than  usually 
serious.  It  ought  to  represent  a  reconsecration  of  the 
people  to  the  principles  upon  which  their  government 
was  founded. 

The  beginning  of  the  second  century  of  our  Federal 
existence  has  witnessed  a  strange  departure  from  those 
principles.  The  party  in  control  of  the  Government  is 
exhibiting  in  the  executive  and  legislative  branches  a 
dangerous  tendency  toward  usurpation  and  centraliza- 
tion of  power,  culminating  thus  far  in  the  passage  by 
the  House  of  Kepresentatives  of  an  election  bill  which 
a  large  part  of  the  people  have  with  justice  and  propri- 
ety emphatically  denounced  as  subversive  of  popular 
iglits  and  revolutionary  in  purpose  and  effect. 

Should  such  legislation  continue  unrebuked  our  con- 
stitution will  become  blank  paper,  and  our  country  will 
need  a  new  declaration  of  independence. 

I  am  sure  that  in  the  celebration  which  the  Tanmany 
Society  has  arranged  for  this  anniversary  the  effort  will 
not  be  spared  to  arouse  the  people  to  a  sense  of  the 
dangers  which  threaten  in  this  wide  departure  from  the 
simple  form  of  government  planned  by  our  forefathers, 
and  to  rebuke  the  selfish  and  tyrannical  partisanship 
which,  to  satisfy  its  own  greed,  is  willing  not  only  tO' 
sacrifice  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  country,  but  to 
pervert  the  very  charter  of  our  liberties. 

Tammany  Hall  will  but  echo  the  best  sentiment  of 
the  country  when  it  appeals  to  the  patriotic  instincts  of 
men  of  all  parties  to  oppose  these  tendencies  toward 
centralization  and  governmental  favoritism.  It  is  an 
organization  with  an  illustrious  history.  Its  influence  is 
powerful  and  far  reaching.  It  is  an  important  factor  in 
our  American  civilization.  It  stretches  a  protecting  arm 
over  the  poor  and  ignorant  who  come  to  our  land  from 
distant   shores,   and  instructs  them  in  the  duties  o£ 


Celebration,  1890, 


63: 


American  citizenship.  It  lias  been  a  steadfast  friend  of 
manhood  suffrage  and  has  vigorously  opposed  every 
attempt,  no  matter  how  carefully  concealed  or  how  in- 
geniously devised,  to  disfranchise  a  single  honest  voter, 
humble  and  unlettered  though  he  may  be.  It  has 
bravely  stood  for  individual  liberty,  local  self-govern- 
ment, the  rights  of  the  States,  equal  privileges  for 
all,  and  an  economical  administration  of  public  affairs. 
With  such  traditions  it  should  be  the  first  to  strike  a 
warning  note  and  lend  its  energies  again  to  secure  strict 
adherence  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  Consti- 
tution. Its  voice  will  be  heard  and  heeded.  Its  exam- 
ple w411  be  an  inspiration  to  thousands  of  men  all  over 
the  country  who  rejoice  to  call  themselves  Democratic 
because  Democracy  represents  these  true  American 
ideas.  In  employing  this  glorious  anniversary  to  urge 
resistance  and  rebuke  to  any  encroachment  upon  or 
surrender  of  these  ideas  and  to  revive  devotion  to 
Jeffersonian  principles  the  Tammany  Society  will  be 
rendering  a  beneficent  and  patriotic  service,  worthy  of 
grateful  remembrance  in  the  minds  of  the  people. 
I  remain, 

Your  fellow  citizen, 

DAYID  B.  HILL, 

Governor  of  New  York. 


State  of  Alabama, 
Executive  Department, 

Ofiice  of  the  Governor, 
Montgomery,  June  16,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  have  your  valued  favor  of  June  9th, 
inviting  me,  on  behalf  of  the  Tammany  Society,  to  be 
present  at  its  Celebration,  on  the  Fourth  of  July  next^ 


'64 


Tammany  Society. 


of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of 
-American  Independence.  I  am  deeply  sensible  of  your 
kindness,  and  I  much  regret  that  my  official  engage- 
ments render  it  impossible  for  me  to  be  present  with 
your  Order  at  that  time.  Begging  you  to  accept  my 
thanks  for  your  courtesy,  I  am, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 
THOMAS  SEAY, 

Governor  of  Alabama. 


SrATE  OF  New  Jersey, 
Executive  Department, 

Trenton,  June  16,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  am  in  receipt  of  the  Invitation  of  the 
Committee  of  the  Tammany  Society,  to  be  present  at 
Tammany  Hall,  on  July  4th,  at  ten  o'oclock. 

It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  be  present  on  that 
occasion,  but  I  have  an  engagement  which  prevents  my 
-being  with  the  Society,  on  that  date. 

Yours  truly, 

LEON  ABBETT, 

Governor  of  New  Jersey. 


State  of  Kentucky, 
Executive  Department, 

Frankfort,  June  16,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  regret  that  official  engagements  will 
prevent  me  from  participating  in  the  Celebration  of  the 
One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of  Ameri- 


Celebration,  1890. 


65 


can  Independence,  under  the  auspices  of  tlie  Tammany 
Society. 

An  Order  which  has  contributed  so  largely  to  per- 
petuate the  principles  of  individual  liberty  and  good 
government,  should  inspire  a  grateful  appreciation  in 
the  hearts  of  all  Americans. 

Respectfully, 

A.  B.  BUCKNER, 

Governor  of  Kentucky. 


State  of  Montana, 
Executive  OflSce, 

Helena,  June  21,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  am  in  receipt  of  your  invitation  to  be 
present  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  and  participate  in  the 
Celebration  of  that  day  under  the  auspices  of  the  Tam- 
many Society.  I  thank  you  for  the  invitation,  and  re- 
gret that  I  cannot  be  present  to  listen  to  the  story  of 
our  independence,  wonderful  progress,  and  present 
greatness,  as  it  will  be  told  by  you  and  others. 

I  am,  very  truly  yours, 

J.  K.  TOOLE, 
Governor  of  Montana. 


State  of  Louisiana, 
Executive  Department, 

Baton  Rouge,  June  17,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  receipt 
of  your  kind  invitation  to  attend  the  Celebration  of  the 
One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of  American. 


66 


Tammany  Society. 


Independence,  which  will  take  place  on  the  Fourth  day 
of  July  next,  by  the  Tammany  Society  or  Columbian 
Order,  for  which  please  accept  my  cordial  thanks. 

I  regret  that  my  official  duties  prevent  me  from 
absenting  myself  especially  at  this  time  when  the 
Legislature  is  in  session,  my  presence  in  this  State 
being  of  indispensible  necessity. 

I  am,  very  respectfully. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

FEANCIS  T.  NICHOLLS, 

Governor  of  Louisiana. 


State  of  West  Virginia, 
Executive  Department, 

Charleston,  June  23,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  appreciate  your  invitation  to  attend  the 
'Tammany  Society  Celebration  of  the  One  Hundred  and 
Fourteenth  Anniversary  of  American  Independence.  I 
regret  to  say  that  my  engagements  are  such  as  to  make 
it  impossible  for  me  to  attend. 

With  my  best  wishes  for  the  success  of  your  Celebra- 
tion, I  am,  truly,  &c., 

A.  B.  FLEMING, 
Governor  of  West  Virginia. 


State  of  Oregon, 
Executive  Department,  ^ 

Salem,  June  19,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  invitation 
requesting  me  to  participate  with  Tammany  Society  in 
its  Celebration  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth 


Celebration,  hSOO, 


67 


Anniversary  of  American  Independence.  Official  duties 
will  preclude  its  acceptance.  Allow  me,  however,  to 
express  the  hope  that  Tammany  will,  upon  this 
Anniversary,  as  of  yore,  declare  its  unalterable  fidelity 
to  those  great  principles  which  necessarily  underlie  all 
just  governments — the  equality  of  privilege,  and  the 
equality  of  taxation. 

Very  respectfully, 

SYLVESTEK  PENNOYER, 

Governor  of  Oregon. 


United  States  Senate, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  14,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  appreciate  the  kindness  and  honor  of 
your  very  cordial  invitation  to  attend  the  One  Hundred 
and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of  American  Indepen- 
dence, to  be  celebrated  by  the  Tammany  Society,  on 
the  Fc^irtli  of  July,  next. 

I  regret,  exceedingly,  that  official  duties  here  will  de- 
prive me  of  the  pleasure  and  honor  of  attending. 

I  trust  that  the  occasion  may  be  all  that  your  Society 
may  desire.    I  am,  very  truly. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

F.  M.  COCKRELL, 
IT.  S.  Senator  from  Missouri. 


United  States  Senate, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  15,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
invitation  for  the  Fourth  of  July  Celebration  by  your 
Society,  and  ask  to  express  my  regrets  that  I  cannot 


68 


Tammany  Society. 


accept  it.  My  arrangements  are  made  to  leave  your 
port  on  the  third  proximo,  for  Bermuda.  I  would 
gladly  join  you  if  I  could.  There  is  no  organization  in 
this  land,  save  the  Democratic  party,  that  has  done  as 
much  to  maintain  and  perpetuate  free  Government,  and 
none  that  has  the  same  right  to  celebrate  the  recurring 
Anniversary  of  the  Republic  as  has  Tammany.  I  only 
wish  that  I  could  be  with  you  on  the  Fourth. 
Very  truly, 
JO.  E.  S.  BLACKBURN, 

U.  S.  Senator  from  Kentucky. 


United  States  Senate, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  16,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  am  in  receipt  of  your  courteous  invita- 
tion of  the  9th  instant,  to  attend  the  Celebration  of  the 
Tammany  Society  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  next. 

I  sincerely  regret  that  owing  to  engagements  at  home, 
in  Indiana,  I  am  compelled  to  decline  accepting  it. 
With  many  thanks  for  the  courtesy,  I  remain. 
Very  respectfully  yours, 

D.  TURPIE, 
U.  S.  Senator  from  Indiana. 


United  States  Senate, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  23,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — Once  more  I  am  in  receipt  of  your 
invitation  to  attend  Tammany  Hall's  Annual  Fourth  of 
July  Celebration.    I  assure  you  that  I  sincerely  regret 
my  inability  to  accept  it. 


Celebration,  1800. 


69 


I  have  so  much  on  my  hands  here,  public  and  private^ 
that  I  find  it  impracticable  to  absent  myself  for  a 
moment. 

With  best  wishes  for  a  successful  occasion,  and  the 
continued  prosperity  and  usefulness  of  your  ancient 
Society,  I  am, 

Very  truly  yours, 

Z.  B.  VANCE, 
U.  S.  Senator  from  North  Carolina. 


United  States  Senate, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  16,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  an  invitation  on  the  part  of  the  Tammany 
Society  or  Columbian  Order,  to  be  present  and  address 
the  Society,  on  the  Fourth  of  July  next. 

I  fear  tkat  my  public  duties  here  may  prevent  my 
acceptance,  but  I  beg  to  thank  you  cordially  for  the 
invitation,  and  remain. 

Yours  faithfully, 

E.  L.  GIBSON, 
U.  S.  Senator  from  Louisiana. 


United  States  Senate, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  14,  1890. 
^  Dear  Sir  : — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  re- 
ceipt of  an  invitation  to  be  present  and  to  address  the 
Tammany  Society,  at  the  Celebration  of  its  One  Hund- 
red and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of  American  Indepen- 
dence on  the  Fourth  of  July,  proximo. 


70  Tammany  Society. 

In  reply  I  beg  to  state  tbat  I  have  an  engagement  to 
deliver  an  address  in  New  Jersey^  on  that  day  which  will 
prevent  my  complying  with  the  kind  request  of  your 
Committee.    I  am,  with  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  K  Mcpherson, 

U.  S.  Senator  from  New  Jersey. 


United  States  Senate, 

Washington,  June  30,  1890. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  have  received  your  invitation  to  attend 
the  celebration  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth 
Anniversary  of  Americaii  Indepeudence,  to  be  held  by 
your  Society,  and  have  deferred  my  answer  hoping  to 
l)e  able  to  participate  with  you  in  the  exercises  of  the 
day,  but  find  that  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  do  so  and 
with  great  regret  feel  obliged  to  decline. 

There  has  been  no  time  in  the  history  of  our  country 
when  a  recurrence  to  the  principles  upon  which  the 
foundations  of  our  Government  were  laid,  has  been 
more  appropriate  and  important  than  the  present. 

The  proposition  to  allow  Federal  Supervising  Boards 
under  the  control  of  a  National  Administration  to  sub- 
stitute their  returns  for  the  will  of  the  people,  should 
arouse  the  country  from  one  end  to  the  other. 

It  is  for  the  liberty-loving  people  of  the  North  to  call 
public  attention  to  the  pending  legislation  which  at- 
tempts these  changes  in  our  Government,  and  there  is 
no  opportunity  more  appropriate  than  such  an  Anni- 
vei'sary  as  you  are  to  celebrate  for  doing  this.  Your 
patriotic  Order  has  done  much  in  the  past  to  sustain 
and  vindicate  the  principles  of  the  early  founders  of 
our  Government,  and  I  feel  confident  that   on  this 


Cdehration.  1800. 


71 


-occasion  the  Tammany  Society  will  not  fail  to  improve 
ithe  opportunity  of  warning  the  country  of  the  impend- 
ing dangers  which  threaten  the  destruction  of  our  con- 
stitutional form  of  government. 

Hoping  that  your  celebration  will  be  a  success,  and 
.thanking  you  for  your  courtesy,  I  remain, 

Yours  very  truly, 

S.  PASCO, 
United  States  Senator  from  Florida. 


United  States  Senate, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  15,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  have  just  received  an  invitation  to  the 
'Tammany  Celebration  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  1890,  and 
regret  that  I  shall  be  unable  to  be  present. 

Yery  truly, 

J.  G.  CAELISLE, 
U.  S.  Senator  from  Kentucky. 


United  States  Senate, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  18,  1890. 
Dear  Sir: — I  acknowledge  with  much  pleasure  your 
-courteous  invitation  to  the  Tammany  Celebration  on 
the  Fourth  of  July,  proximo. 

I  sincerely  regret  to  say  that  the  pressure  of  duties  at 
this  late  period  of  the  session,  and  the  infirmity  of  health, 
will  prevent  my  acceptance  of  the  same. 

I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 
H.  B.  PAYNE, 

U.  S.  Senator  from  Ohio. 


72 


Tammany  Society. 


United  States  Senate, 

Washington,  D.  C,  July  1,  1890. 

Dear  Sir: — I  postponed  answering  the  kind  invitation' 
of  the  Tammany  Society  to  be  present  at  the  celebration 
of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of 
American  Independence  at  Tammany  Hall,  on  the  4th 
instant,  hoping  that  I  might  be  able  to  accept. 

But  I  get  out  of  a  sick  bed  to  express  my  sincere 
regrets  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  do. 
KespectfuUy, 

ISHAM  G.  HAKRIS, 
U.  S.  Senator  for  Tennessee. 


House  of  Representatives, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  25,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  re- 
ceipt of  an  invitation  from  the  Tammany  Society  to  at- 
tend its  forthcoming  Celebration  of  the  Fourth  of  July. 
It  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  attend,  which  I  much  re- 
gret ;  and  I  desire  to  express  my  appreciation  of  the 
honor  of  the  invitation,  with  best  wishes  for  the  success 
and  welfare  of  the  Society. 

Very  truly  yours, 

C.  R.  BRECKINRIDGE, 
Member  of  Congress  from  Arkansas. 


House  of  Representatives, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  24,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — Your  obliging  invitation  to  join  in  the 
Celebration  of  Tammany  Society  of  the  One  Hundred 
and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of  our  Country's  Independ- 
ence, is  most  respectfully  ackowledged. 


Cekhration,  1800. 


73 


It  is  not  likely  that  this  pleasure  can  be  realized. 

Yon  may  well  say  this  occasion  will  "be  of  excep- 
tional significance." 

Our  fathers  fought  the  "  War  of  the  Reyolution  "  for 
Taxation  and  Representation. 

Under  domination  of  the  Republican  Party  to-daj, 
we  are  liying  on  the  laud  our  fathers  made  free,  under 
a  tyranny  of  congressional  rule,  which  gives  us  Legisla- 
tion icithmd  Representation. 

Congress  with  limited  and  delegated  powers  assumes 
to  be  a  Parliament ;  the  Republican  Party  by  a  made-up 
majority,  a  manufactured  yote,  seeks  to  protect  it  by 
■driving  out  the  lawfully  and  duly  elected  Democratic 
members  and  seating  in  their  places  men  whose  claims 
rests  on  voting  with  the  Republican  Party  and  assuring 
its  majorit}'. 

But  this  is  not  the  most  infamous  policy  of  this  Re- 
publican manufactured  and  protected  majority.  It 
seeks  now  to  destroy  the  Federal  Constitution  and  over - 
•throw  ourisj-stem  of  government. 

"  The  Federal  Election "  bill,  proposes  to  put  the 
elections  in  all  our  states,  New  England  and  Middle 
states,  in  the  hands  of  Republican  boss  machine-poli- 
ticians. Paid  agents,  to  return  to  Congress  only  those 
men  who  will  carry  out  the  behests  of  the  Republican 
Party.  Every  election  poll  will  be  subjected  to  the 
will  of  these  paid  Federal  agents.  They  can  decide 
who  they  want  elected  and  their  certificate  is  evidence 
of  the  elections  without  regard  to  the  votes  of  the  peo- 
ple. This  most  monstrous  tyranny  is  advocated  by  the 
Republican  members  of  Congress. 

^  Courts  are  made  tools  ;  clerks  of  courts,  agents  ;  mar- 
shals, police  officers,  and  the  supervisors,  masters  of 
«very  voter  at  every  election  poll  in  every  state  in  the 
United  States.  State  authority  is  defied.  Can  this  be 
submitted  to  ?    AVill  it  be  ?    The  people  should  at  once 


74  Tammany  Society. 


assemble  and  in  public  meeting  denounce  this  tyranny.. 
The  Tory  Party  of  England  in  its  oppression  of  our 
Fathers  were  never  guilty  of  such  schemes  to  destroy 
Liberty. 

This  Lodge  Bill  of  the  Tory  Party  of  the  United 
States  in  1890,  would  have  brought  a  blush  on  the  face- 
of  Lord  North,  if  he  was  asked  to  adopt  such  a  measure.. 
Very  truly  yours, 

RICHAED  YAUX, 
Member  of  Congress  from  Pennsylvania. 


House  of  Representatives, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  23,  1890. 

Dear  Sir: — I  thank  you  for  an  invitation  to  attend  the 
Celebration  to  be  held  on  the  Fourth  of  Jul}^  next,  by  the 
Tammany  Society  or  Columbian  Order,  and  I  regret 
exceedingly  that  my  duties  in  Congress  will  prevent  me 
from  being  present. 

With  many  pleasant  recollections  of  Lospitalities  ex- 
tended to  me  by  the  Tammany  Society  two  years  ago^ 
and  with  many  wishes  for  the  success  of  your  great  Co- 
lumbian Order,  I  am, 

Respectfully, 

JAMES  B.  McCREARY, 
Member  of  Congress  from  Kentucky.. 


House  or  Representatives, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  IG,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — The  invitation  of  your  honorable  Com- 
mittee to  take  part  in  the  Celebration  of  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of  American  Inde- 


Celehi'ation,  1S90. 


pendence,  to  be  held  by  tlie  Tammany  Society,  was 
received.  While  I  thank  you  heartily  for  your  kind- 
ness, I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  am  not  at  liberty  to 
promise  to  be  present,  as  pressure  of  business  concern- 
ing obligations  to  my  constituents  and  private  business 
which  have  greatly  accumulated,  will  very  likely  pre- 
vent my  attendance.  Nevertheless  I  will  be  with  you  on 
that  day  with  all  my  heart  and  will  glory  in  your  cele- 
bration, and  where  is  the  American  citizen  whose  heart 
would  not  rejoice  when  he  sees  the  proudest  day  in  our 
history  celebrated  in  a  befitting  manner,which  your  So- 
ciety understands  so  well  to  do ; — how  could  it  be  other- 
wise as  the  Tammany  Society  belongs  to  that  grand  old 
party  which  always  has  been  the  pride  of  the  country; 
the  party  which  always  did  honor  to  its  name,  never 
had  any  occasion  to  change  the  same,  and  under  the 
rule  of  which  the  country  has  at  all  times  been  happy 
and  prosperous,  and  its  independency  assuied.  Be- 
ing a  German  by  birth,  allow  me  to  say  a  few  words  on 
behalf  of  my  countrymen,  who  have  on  all  occasions 
shown  tlieir  love  for  and  devotion  to  this  home  of  the 
brave  and  the  land  of  the  free.  I  will  only  point  to  the 
fact  that  at  the  very  beginning,  when  the  people  of  this 
country  struck  the  first  blow  for  their  liberty  and  In- 
dependence, the  Continental  army  counted  among  its 
commanders  a  few  German  Generals,  wdio  were  highly 
honored  by  George  Washington,  the  father  of  this  noble 
land,  and  whose  records  fill  pages  in  our  history  to 
which  every  German-American  can  point  with  pride 
and  satisfaction.  It  Avas  also  the  Germans  who,  to  a 
great  extent,  helped  to  till  our  soil,  and  wherever  you 
may  go  in  this  broad  land  one  will  see  the  marks  and 
proofs  ot'  German  enterprise  and  industry,  be  it  on 
farm,  in  general  business  life,  architecture,  or  even 
science.  And  during  the  civil  war,  thej^  have  shown  their 
patriotism,  helping  to  fill  the  ranks  of  our  army  and 


76 


Tammany  Society. 


fighting  bravely  for  tliat  noble  banner,  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  to  which  they  had  sworn  allegiance. 

In  justice  to  the  Democratic  party  may  it  be  said, 
that  she  always  recognized  the  value  of  the  German- 
American  citizens,  and  that  it  is  the  only  party  that 
uj)holds  personal  liberty ;  that  is  free  from  prejudice 
against  foreign-born  American  citizens,  and  free  from 
Prohibition  and  religious  fanaticism;  allowing  one  and 
all  to  enjoy  liberty  in  the  broadest  sense  of  its  meaning, 
so  long  as  there  is  no  violation  of  the  laAvs  of  this 
.country. 

Eecognizing  these  facts,  I  hope  and  pray  that  the 
day  may  not  be  far  distant,  when  all  foreign-born 
-citizens  will  stand  firm  by  that  grand  old  Democratic 
party,  which  alone  is  able  to  save  American  Independ- 
ence— for  which  our  foref.athers  have  fought  so  brave- 
ly— from  becoming  a  farce.  I  am,  dear  sir. 
Yours  very  truly, 

CHAS,  BAKWIG, 
Member  of  Congress  from  Wisconsin. 


House  of  Representatives, 

Washington,  D.  C,  July  2,  1890. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  am  in  receipt  of  the  invitation  to  attend 
jour  annual  Fourth  of  July  celebration,  and  sincerely 
regret  that  sickness  in  my  family  will  prevent  me  from 
being  with  you  on  that  memorable  day. 

The  Fourth  of  July  is  the  day  upon  which  we  cele- 
brate the  Declaration  of  Independence  of  the  first  free 
•Government  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  But  after  one 
hundred  and  fourteen  anniA  crsaries  of  that  event,  secure 
in  the  inheritance  from  our  forefathers  of  a  free  and 
independent  Government  of  the  people  and  by  the 


Celebration,  1890. 


77 


people,  we  now  witness  the  spectacle  of  an  attempt  at 
party  domination  hy  the  overthrow  of  rights  vested  in 
the  people  of  the  several  States.  The  day  you  cele- 
brate will  be  a  fitting  occasion  to  sound  an  alarm  to 
the  people  and  call  their  attention  to  the  rapid  strides 
in  the  direction  of  centralization  which  their  Govern- 
ment is  taking  under  the  present  administration  of  the 
Kepublican  party.  While  the  States  are  using  strenuous 
efforts  to  procure  for  their  citizens  an  honest  ballot,  the 
Government,  under  the  responsibility  of  the  Republican 
party,  in  order  to  better  facilitate  the  perpetuation  of 
that  party  in  power,  is  made  to  interpose  a  measure 
fraught  with  evil,  a  measure  that  menaces  oar  personal 
liberties,  a  measure  that  will  annul  State  laws  and 
strike  at  the  very  foundation  of  a  free  Government  as 
guaranteed  in  our  Constitution. 

While  in  the  State  of  New  York  we  have  passed  a 
law  to  prevent  bribery  at  the  ballot,  this  bill  steps  in 
and  overrides  that  law.  It  gives  the  Republican  party, 
through  its  Supervisors  and  Marshals,  the  right  to 
employ  at  the  polls  any  number  of  Deputy  Marshals 
ihey  shall  deem  necessar}^  What  is  to  hinder,  for  in- 
stance, in  the  City  of  New  York,  the  procuring  of  five 
Iiundred  impecunious  Marshals  in  the  First  District 
and  sending  them  up  to  the  Harlem  District  to  be  there 
employed  during  election,  and  visa  versa  all  over  the 
•city.  Tliey  are  assured  $5  a  day  for  eight  days'  employ- 
ment. The  law  allows  th«'m  to  be  transferred  from  the 
district  in  which  they  are  voters  to  any  other  district, 
and  in  this  way  a  legalized  bribery,  in  the  interest  of 
the  Republican  party,  paid  out  of  the  Federal  Treasury, 
will  be  the  result. 

This  bill  provides  that  fifty  persons,  claiming  to  be 
citizens  of  a  County,  or  one  hundred  persons,  claiming 
to  be  citizens  of  a  Congressional  District,  may  call  for 
the   e.x.ercisb   of  this   law  by  petitioning  the  Chief 


78 


Tammany  Sociely. 


Supervisor,  and  the  judge  of  the  Court  must  grant  the 
request. 

The  beneficiaries  under  this  bill  will  amount  to  more 
than  six  hundred  in  each  Congressional  District,  at  the 
least  calculation,  and  therefore  it  will  be  called  for  in 
every  district  in  the  United  States,  thus  furnishing  a 
machine  for  the  Republican  party  to  make  a  thorough 
from  house-to-house  canvass,  to  count  the  votes  and  to 
give  the  result  to  the  lleturning  Board  established  in 
each  Judicial  District ;  and  the  certificate  of  that 
Returni'Dg  Board  must  be  received  in  Washington  by 
the  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  prefer- 
ence to  that  of  the  Governor  or  Secretary  of  State, 
under  the  penalty  of  $5,000  fine  and  two  years'  im- 
prisonment. 

Persons  who  have  already  been  admitted  to  full 
American  citizenship  by  complying  with  the  regulations 
pertaining  to  naturalization,  and  whose  rights  thereto 
have  already  been  acknowledged  by  the  acceptance  of 
votes  cast  at  previous  elections,  are  not  to  escape  the 
scrutiny  of  party  henchmen.  This  bill  provides  that 
in  any  town,  haviug  tw^entv  thousand  inhabitants,  a  list 
of  naturalized  persons  shall  be  kept  by  the  Chief 
Supervisor,  the  date  of  their  naturalization,  and  name 
and  residence  of  witnesses,  with  right  to  examine  the 
original  affidavit ;  and  for  the  convenience  of  said 
Supervisor,  no  penalty  is  attached  to  his  employing 
said  witnesses  as  Deputy  Marshals.  Supervisors  are 
also  required  to  observe  and  scrutinize  the  manner  in 
which  naturalizations  are  being  made,  and  to  aid  the 
Court  in  preventing  fraudulent  naturalizations;  in  other 
words,  they  are  empowered  by  United  States  law  to 
exercise  a  censorship  at  naturalization  of  foreigners,, 
who  desire  to  become  American  citizens,  with  no  penalty 
attached  for  degrading  their  high  office  by  practicing 
upon  innocent  and  well-meaning  persons  such  intimida- 


Celebration,  1800. 


79 


tion  as  may  deter  them  from  an  exercise  of  their  just 
rights. 

This  is  the  most  revolutionary  measure  that  has  been 
proposed  so  far  in  any  Congress,  and  it  is  the  duty  of 
all  good  citizens  to  speak  out  against  it,  for  it  is  an 
outrage  upon  the  American  people. 

Let  your  Ancient  Order  raise  its  warwlioop  against 
this  interference  with  the  rights  of  the  American 
people. 

Regretting  that  I  cannot  be  with  you, 
I  am,  very  truly  yours, 

ROSWELL  P.  FLOWER, 
Member  of  Congress  from  New  York. 


House  of  Representatives, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  17,  1890. 
I5ear  Sir  : — The  invitation  to  attend  and  address  the 
Tammany  Society,  at  its  meeting  on  the  Fourth  of  July, 
proximo,  is  before  me.  But  for  an  engagement  already 
made  I  would  most  cheerfully  comply,  and  avail  myself 
of  the  personal  pleasure  it  would  afford  me  to  meet  and 
mingle  with  the  members  of  the  grand  old  organization, 
upon  an  occasion  which  that  organization  (as  I  under- 
stand its  principles  and  doctrines),  is  pre-eminently  en- 
titled to  commemorate,  because  its  tenets  are  a  truly 
correct  exposition  of  the  principles  of  the  famous  de- 
claration promulgated  one  hundred  and  fourteen  years 
ago. 

But  I  cannot  be  with  you.     With  best  wishes, 
Yours  in  the  faith, 

BARNES  COMPTON, 
Member  of  Cougress  from  ^Nlar^dand. 


Tammany  Society. 


House  of  Kepresentatives, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  16,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  have  the  honor  of  yours  of  the  9th  inst., 
inviting  me  to  participate  in  the  Celebration  of  the 
""Tammany  Society"  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  next. 

I  regret  to  be  obliged  to  say  that  a  previous  engage- 
ment for  that  day,  will  deprive  me  of  the  pleasure  of 
being  present  with  you  on  that  occasion. 

My  heart  goes  out  to  "  Tammany,"  with  an  ever  in- 
creasing fervency,  inspired  by  each  added  celebration 
day  of  its  honored  existence.  Long  may  it  live  :  and 
upward,  outward  and  onward  may  its  sway  extend,  to 
scatter  everywhere  the  blessings  of  liberty,  of  law,  and 
of  order,  while  the  skies  have  a  star,  or  old  ocean  a  tide. 

Yours  faithfully, 

CHAS.  H.  GIBSON, 
Member  of  Congress  from  Maryland. 


House  of  Eepresentatives, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  14,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  regret  that  I  cannot  accept  the  invita- 
tion of  your  Society  for  the  Fourth  of  J uly,  next. 

The  celebration  of  that  day  is  worthy  of  the  Demo- 
cracy everywhere,  because  all  that  it  is  commemorative 
of  is  essentially  Democratic. 

In  response  to  your  request  for  an  expression  of  ap- 
propriate sentiment,  let  me  add,  that  I  hope  that  the 
Democratic  party  everywhere  Avill  be  united,  and  so  re- 
turn to  the  control  of  the  government  it  has  always 
conducted  in  tiie  best  interests  of  the  people. 

Yours  respectfully, 

J.  LOGAN  CHIPMAN, 
Member  of  Congress  from  Michigan. 


Celebration,  1890. 


SI 


State  of  New  York, 
Lieutenant-Governor's  Room, 

Albany,  July  2,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — Thanks  and  regrets  rival  each  other,  the 
first  for  your  kindly  remembrance,  the  second  that  I 
am  deprived  by  a  duty  elsewhere  of  the  honor  and 
pleasure  of  joining  you  on  this  occasion. 

True  to  the  traditions  of  the  Columbian  Order,  its. 
sons  meet  in  annual  commemoration  of  the  Birthday  of 
our  Republic. 

We  are  rapidly  counting  the  years  in  the  second 
century  of  our  National  existence,  and  joyfully  thank 
God  that  we  are  at  peace  with  all  the  world. 

That  no  armed  foe  within  or  without  our  borders 
threaten  the  tranquility  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Bright  skies  span  our  future,  and  were  it  not  for  the 
insiduous  greed  for  power  and  wealth  of  an  unprincipled 
political  party,  who  would  perpetuate  themselves  re- 
gardless of  the  rights  of  the  people,  we  might  safely 
measmre  the  future  by  the  past. 

But  our  hopes  are  weakened  by  the  course  pursued 
by  an  unscrupulous  majority  who  now  control  Con- 
gress. 

These  partisans  devoid  of  all  respect  for  the  Consti- 
tutional rights  of  the  minority  in  Congress,  though  they 
represent  a  majority  of  the  people,  under  pretence  of 
protecting  the  purity  of  the  ballot  would  rob  all  but 
their  own  followers  of  the  right  of  suffrage. 

In  our  own  State  Legislature  the  Republicans  shouted 
"ballot  reform"  until  the  very  walls  of  the  Senate  and 
Assembly  echoed  the  cry,  but  when  they  were  met  by  a 
Democracy  honestly  as  eager  for  ballot  reform  as  the 
Republicans  pretended,  they  shutiled  and  evaded  the 
issue  until  an  indignant  public  drove  them  to  the  sup- 
port of  a  measure  that  promises  an  honest  expression 
of  the  will  of  the  people  at  the  ballot  box. 


82 


Tammany  Society, 


Now  what  do  we  see,  a  Kepublican  Congress  threaten- 
ing such  a  partisan  supervision  of  our  elective  system 
as  to  rob  it  of  all  equity,  and  for  Avhich  there  can  be 
no  excuse  beyond  the  fact  that  the  majority  have  the 
power. 

'i  hese  Avrongs  Avill  result  in  solidifj'ing  the  Dem- 
ocracy, in  maintenance  of  the  rights  promised  in  the 
Constitution,  of  which  there  is  no  more  faithful  sup- 
porter than  the  Tammany  Society. 
I  am,  yours  truly, 

EDWAKD  F.  JONES, 

Lieut.-Governor  of  New  York. 


State  of  New  York, 
Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State, 

Albany,  June  27,  1890. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  honor  of  an 
invitation  to  be  present  at  Tammany  Hall,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  Celebration  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Four- 
teenth Anniversary  of  American  Independence,  and  to 
say  that  another  engagement  makes  it  impossible  that 
I  should  have  a  share  in  the  interesting  event. 

It  is  a  matter  of  congratulation  that  the  citizens  of 
New  York  are  annually  given  an  opportunity  for  dis- 
playing their  devotion  to  Country,  and  their  apprecia- 
tion of  free  goA^ernment,  by  assembling  in  the  Hall  of 
the  Tammany  Society  and  participating  in  the  perform- 
ance of  a  programme  of  patriotic  exercises,  arranged  by 
this  old  and  honored  Order. 

It  is  the  hope  of  every  good  citizen  that  these  cele- 
brations may  serve  to  create  in  the  people  a  zealous  care 
for  the  protection  and  preservation  of  the  rights  de- 
<}lared  by  the  founders  of  the  Government  and  guar- 


Celebratio7i,    1800.  83 

anteed  by  the  letter  of  the  Constitution  made  and  pro- 
mulgated by  them. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

FRANK  RICE, 
Secretary  of  State,  State  of  New  York. 


State  of  New  York, 
Attorney  General's  Office, 

Albany,  June  27,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  am  in  receipt  of  your  invitation  to  at- 
tend the  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of 
American  Independence,  to  be  held  by  the  Tammany 
Society,  at  Tammany  Hall,  July  4,  1890.  I  thank  you 
sincerely  for  your  thoughtfulness  in  remembering  me 
upon  this  occasion,  and  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  pos- 
sibly attend.  But  I  wish  you  all  kinds  of  success  and 
enjo;f  ment  upon  this  and  all  other  Anniversaries  of  this 
kind. 

I  am,  very  truly  yours, 

CHARLES  F.  TABOR, 
Attorney  General,  State  of  New  York. 


State  of  New  York, 
Treasurer's  Office, 

Albany,  July  1,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — Please  accept  my  thanks  for  your  kind 
invitation  to  attend  the  Celebration  of  the  One  Hundred 
and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of  American  Independence, 
to  be  held  in  Tammany  Hall,  July  4,  1890.  I  regret  that 


84 


Tammany  Society. 


a  preyious  engagement  to  speak  on  that  day,  will  prevent 
my  being  with  you  and  joining  in  the  celebration. 

We  do  well  to  honor  the  memory  of  the  fifty-six 
lawyers,  traders,  farmers  and  mechanics,  who  so  many 
years  ago  proclaimed  this  continent  the  property  of  a  free 
people.  It  is  fitting  that  the  immortal  document  they 
signed,  should  be  read  on  each  recurring  anniversary  in 
all  the  towns  throughout  the  land,  and  every  bell  re- 
echo those  first  notes,  which  so  stirred  the  blood  of 
patriots  on  that  memorable  4th  of  July,  1776.  As  a  re- 
sult of  the  services  and  sacrifices  of  those  early 
patriots,  we  have  to-day  an  individual,  unbroken  Re- 
public, free  from  ocean  to  ocean,  with  as  many  States 
as  we  can  crowd  stars  into  the  flag. 

Trusting  that  the  celebration  by  your  honored  So- 
ciety will  be  attended  with  success,  I  am, 

Yery  truly  yours, 

ELLIOT  DANFORTH, 

Treasurer,  State  of  New  York. 


Comptroller's  Office, 

Albany,  N.  Y.,  June  20,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  sincerely  regret  that  I  will  be  unable  to- 
attend  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Celebration  of 
Independence  day,  by  the  Tammany  Society. 
Thanking  you  for  your  kind  invitation,  I  am. 
Very  sincerely, 

EDWARD  WEMPLE, 
Comptroller,  State  of  New  York. 


Celebration,  1890. 


85 


State  of  New  York, 
Senate  Cliamber, 

Albany,  June  30,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  regret  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  me 
to  be  present  with  the  Tammanj  Society  at  its  Celebra- 
tion of  our  Anniversary  of  National  Independence,  next 
Friday. 

A  partisian  majority  in  Congress  seems  determined 
to  maintain  its  grasp  on  power  by  the  mailed  hand, 
through  the  enactment  of  unnecessary  and  uncalled-for 
election  laws,  intended  to  arm  the  General  Government 
with  new  and  dangerous  powers,  and  constituting  a 
menace  to  the  cherished  privileges  of  the  people  of  the 
States  to  choose  their  reprentatives  in  Congress,  peace- 
ably in  their  own  way. 

Particularly  is  this  a  grievance  in  our  own  State, 
where,  after  long  discussion  a  just  and  equitable  elec- 
tion law  designed  to  maintain  the  purity  of  the  ballot, 
and  with  carefully  guarded  provisions  looking  to  that 
end  ha^  just  been  placed  on  the  statute  book  ;  the  con- 
flict between  which  law  and  that  proposed  in  Congress 
will  lead  to  sad  discussion  and  perhaps  throw  discredit 
on  attempts  to  secure  elections  free  from  intimidation 
and  bribery. 

Every  peaceable  and  constitutional  endeavor  should 
be  put  forth  to  prevent  the  perpetration  of  this 
great  wrong.  At  this  juncture  such  is  the  paramount 
duty  of  every  Democrat. 

Rejoicing  with  you  because  of  the  long  preservation 
of  our  liberties,  and  gladly  acknowledging  the  distin- 
guished services  of  the  Columbian  Order  in  that  belialf, 
I  remain, 

Yours  very  truly, 

JOHN  J.  LINSON, 
State  Senator,  New  York. 


86 


Tammany  Society, 


Sheriff's  Office — County  Court  House, 

New  York,  June  27,  1890. 
Dear  Sir  : — To-morrow  I  leave  town  for  Indianapolis, 
and  do  not  expect  to  return  in  time  to  attend  the  Cele- 
bration of  the  Fourth  of  July,  at  Tammany  Hall.  I 
hope  you  will  all  have  a  good  time  as  usual,  and  shall 
read  the  report  of  your  proceedings  with  interest.  This 
is  an  important  year  for  the  Democratic  Party,  and  if 
wise  counsels  prevail  we  may  look  forward  with  confi- 
dence to  a  controlling  power  in  the  City,  State  and 
Nation. 

Faithfully  yours, 

DANIEL  E.  SICKLES, 
Sheriff,  County  of  New  York. 


Eochester,  N.  Y.,  June  30,  1890. 

My  Dear  Sir  : — I  feel  honored  by  your  invitation  to 
be  present  on  the  Anniversary  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  take  part  in  the  ex- 
ercises. It  is  a  matter  of  sincere  regret  that  an  en- 
gagement to  be  present  at  a  Celebration  at  another 
place,  made  before  receiving  your  kind  invitation  will 
prevent  me  from  meeting  with  the  members  of  Tam- 
many Society  on  the  Fourth  proximo. 

You  are  to  observe  the  Anniversary  of  the  day  when 
the  soul  of  the  American  People  was  expressed  in  that 
immortal  document — a  day  which  was  not  only  the 
birthday  of  a  people,  but  on  which  the  foundations  of 
a  National  Government  were  laid.  Like  Celebrations 
will  be  held  on  each  recurring  Anniversary  through  all 
time,  for  a  government  founded  on  principles  so  just  to 
all,  must  live  forever. 

Very  sincerely, 

DONALD  McNAUGHTON. 


Celebration,   1890.  87 

131  St.  James  Place, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  July  3,  1890. 
Dear  Sir: — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  your  invitation  to  participate  in  the  exercises 
of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Anniversary  of 
American  Independence  by  the  Tammany  Society  or 
Cohimbian  Order,  and  to  deliver  an  address  at  the  meet- 
ing. I  have  deferred  answer  in  hope  that  circumstances 
would  permit  me  to  be  present,  but  find  that  it  will  be 
impossible. 

The  celebration  of  the  Anniversary  of  American  In- 
dependence by  your  Society,  from  year  to  year,  has 
always  been  worthy  of  the  dignity  and  grandeur  of  the 
event  celebrated,  and  I  regard  my  enforced,  absence 
therefrom  in  the  light  of  a  serious  personal  loss. 
Very  respectfully, 

JOHN  P.  ADAMS, 
City  Commissioner  of  Brooklyn. 


\9 

Oswego,  N.  Y.,  July  3,  1890. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  have  had  the  distinguished  honor  of 
receiving  from  you  the  magnificently  dictated,  eloquent 
and  patriotic  invitation  to  attend  the  One  Hundred  and 
Fourteenth  Celebration  of  the  Natal  Day  of  the  grand- 
est nation  that  has  ever  yet  been  reared  by  mankind, 
by  the  most  loyal  and  patriotic  Society  of  good  and 
true  men  that  was  ever  nurtured  in  the  bosom  of  a  free 
and  independent  Republic — Glorious  Old  Tammany  ! 

It  is  with  painful  regret  I  state  my  inability  to  be 
present  at  your  great  Anniversary.  The  spirit  of 
patriotism  for  our  common  country  and  fealty  to  your 
grand  old  (but  ever  new)  Order  burns  within  me  and 
makes  me  yearn  to  be  in  your  midst ;  but,  alas !  the 


88  ^         Tammany  Society. 


weary  body  begins  to  feel  the  weight  of  years  and  re- 
fuses to  keep  pace  with  the  ever  youthful  spirit,  con- 
sequently owing  to  the  remote  distance  will  be  unable 
to  be  with  you.  I  shall,  however,  be  with  you  in  the 
spirit,  recounting  with  pride  the  glorious  records  of 
your  illustrious  members,  past  and  present. 

What  political  society  of  any  nation,  ancient  or 
modern,  can  present  a  nobler  lineage  of  patriots,  orators 
and  statesmen  ?  Sons  of  Liberty  who  have  ever  fought 
against  every  aggression  and  centralized  encroachment 
on  the  original  purity,  simplicity  and  God-given  liberties 
of  our  priceless  heritage. 

Your  Society,  though  venerable  for  its  years,  is  only 
in  its  youth,  like  unto  our  glorious  Eepublic,  your  mis- 
sion is  never  ending,  because  "Eternal  vigilance  is  the 
price  of  liberty,"  and  your  recurring  festivals  of  in- 
dependence are  but  tlie  beacon  lights  of  your  noble 
history  that  shall  perpetui),te  your  principles  to  posterity 
and  forever  preserve  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  a  noble, 
patriotic  and  generous  people. 

Returning  you  my  grateful  thanks  for  your  courtesy, 
and  wishing  you  the  full  enjoyment  of  a  glorious 
celebration, 

I  remain,  yours  loyally, 

JOHN  GARDENIER. 


From  the  Shreveport  (La.)  Times,  July  1,  1890. 

The  jTimes  acknowledges  a  cordial  invitation  to  attend 
the  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Celebration  of  the 
anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  July 
4,  1890,  by  the  Tammany  Society  of  New  York.  While 
appreciating  the  kind  remembrance,  other  duties  will 
prevent  its  acceptance. 


Celebration,  1890. 


89 


This  Columbian  Order  embraces  the  patriotic  and 
liberty-loving  sons  of  America.  Organized  at  the 
adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  it  has  participated 
in  all  the  notable  events  of  the  Union  for  more  than 
a  hundred  years.  It  has  been  an  earnest  advocate  of 
the  cause  of  Demociacy,  and  year  by  year  the  mem- 
bers renew  their  fealty  to  American  principles  with 
patriotic  sentiments  and  the  pledge  of  their  love  and 
devotion  to  a  pure  Jeffersonian  Democratic  form  of 
Government. 


Letters  and  telegrams  were  also  received  from  Mayor 
Alfred  C.  Chapin,  of  Brooklyn ;  Congressman  E.  P.  C. 
Wilson,  of  Missouri ;  Congressman  James  W.  Covert, 
of  New  York ;  CoDgressman  T.  R.  Stockdale,  of  Mis- 
sissippi; Congressman  J.  E.  Washiugton,  of  Tennessee  ; 
Congressman  Felix  Campbell,  of  New  York ;  State 
Senator  Charles  Stadtler,  Congressman  W.  F.  Wilcox, 
Gover-n^or  Jackson,  of  Maryland;  Governor  Boies,  of 
Iowa ;  Governor  Daniel  G.  Fowler,  of  North  Carolina  ; 
Congressman  John  Quinn,  of  New  York ;  Congressman 
John  F.  Andrew,  Congressman  James  D.  Eichardson, 
of  Tennessee  ;  Congressman  William  G.  Stahlnecker,  of 
New  York ;  State  Senator  Edward  Hawkins,  Hon. 
Alexander  Throup,  of  New  Haven ;  Congressman 
McAdoo,  of  New  Jersey,  and  Hon.  D.  G.  Griffin,  of 
Watertown,  N.  Y. 


# 


